U.S. Mergers & Acquisitions Monthly Review: December 2023

U.S. M&A deal activity decreased in December, going down 14.1% with 962 announcements compared to 1,120 in November. However, aggregate M&A spending increased. In December, 40.1% more was spent on deals compared to November.

In terms of M&A deal activity, 4 of the 21 sectors tracked by FactSet saw an increase in M&A deal activity over the past three months relative to the same three-month period one year ago: Industrial Services (214 vs. 201), Producer Manufacturing (208 vs. 203), Miscellaneous (11 vs. 8) and Energy Minerals (26 vs. 24).

On the other hand, 16 of the 21 sectors tracked by FactSet saw a decrease in M&A deal activity over the past three months relative to the same three-month period one year ago. The five sectors that witnessed the largest declines in M&A deal volume were: Finance (514 vs. 797), Technology Services (565 vs. 729), Commercial Services (494 vs. 587), Consumer Services (239 vs. 325) and Health Services (129 vs. 178).

Topping the list of the largest deals announced in December are: Aon Plc entering an agreement to acquire NFP Corp. from Madison Dearborn Partners LLC for $13.6 billion; Bristol Myers Squibb Co.'s agreement to acquire Karuna Therapeutics, Inc. for $12.5 billion; Nippon Steel North America, Inc., a subsidiary of Nippon Steel Corp., agreeing to acquire United States Steel Corp. for $12.3 billion; Occidental Petroleum Corp.'s deal to acquire CrownRock LP, a joint venture between CrownQuest Operating LLC and Lime Rock Management LP, for $10.8 billion; AbbVie, Inc.'s agreement to acquire Cerevel Therapeutics Holdings, Inc. for $8.2 billion.

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