Last year was another challenging one for the global deal making space, with sluggish economic growth, climbing interest rates, bank failures and geopolitical tensions causing widespread headaches in the global investment banking community in 2023.
M&A transactions were particularly impacted, with the number of deals falling 28 per cent in Europe (including 43 per cent in the UK) and 26 per cent in Asia-Pacific, according to data from the London Stock Exchange Group. In challenging economic times, deal values worldwide fell 17 per cent year on year, to below the $3tn mark for the first time since 2013. Syndicated loans – strongly dependent on the health of M&A markets – fell by 15 per cent during the year.
