Dealmakers adrift as €914bn in mergers vanishes in first half

Deals are being delayed. Boards are having difficulty valuing assets, and are therefore taking longer to commit to transactions.

The world’s dealmakers are roughly $1 trillion (€914bn) down in one of the worst years for takeovers and stock market listings in a decade.

That’s the year-on-year drop in the value of mergers and acquisitions (M&A) and initial public offerings (IPO) in the first half, a period in which inflationary pressures, financing constraints and geopolitical tensions nixed activity across regions and sectors.