Despite the global slowdown in economic growth and the high interest rates, which put the pressure on deals through 2022 Many companies continue to consider M&A as a critical path to growth. In fact, our most recent North American CFO Signals survey revealed that more than half of all respondents expected between 1 http://thisdataroom.com/how-virtual-data-room-vdr-benefit-ma-deals 10 and 10 percent of their business’s growth this year to result from M&A transactions.

Although a range of challenges in the industry have slowed deals since peaking in mid-2022 the recent stability of interest rates and inflation is a good sign that the worst is likely to be over. This, coupled with renewed confidence in the US economy and easing fears of a recession should hopefully encourage more businesses to look at strategic deals this year.

We anticipate that the next year will be an active one for M&A across a broad range of sectors. The industrial sector is predicted to remain a top target, particularly for acquisitions that target innovative technologies such as electric vehicles and cloud-based solutions. We also expect the energy transition will accelerate and that businesses in this sector may look to acquire assets and capabilities to assist them in achieving their goals.

After a downturn in the tech industry in 2022 we expect to see growth in 2024 because artificial intelligence (AI) and its associated applications, such as generative AI, capture the attention of businesses, investors as well as the general public. Healthcare is also an important area for M&A, since companies and investors compete to bring innovative medical technologies to the market.