A total of $136.74 billion of M&A deals were agreed upon in March, up from $64.9 billion in February and a 10.8% increase from March 2022, according to S&P Global Market Intelligence data. This was the first month to post year-over-year growth in the value of M&A since January 2022.

The total value of North American M&A in the first quarter was $253.05 billion, a decline of 44.7% from the comparable period in 2022. The number of transactions fell 28.2% year over year to 4,270.

Big deals give March a boost

Rising interest rates and a slowing economy continued to weigh on companies keen to reduce leverage and exposure to higher borrowing costs.

The aggregate value of deals in the first quarter is even lower compared with the first quarter of 2021 — down 58.2% — when dealmaking caught fire, buoyed by cheap and plentiful capital and a recovering economy.