Tech M&A in 2022 was a tale of two halves. The year started off with a bang, with mega-deals such as Microsoft’s pending $69 billion acquisition of Activision Blizzard, Elon Musk’s $44 billion acquisition of Twitter and Broadcom’s pending $61 billion acquisition of VMware inked in quick succession. However, deal activity fizzled in the second half of 2022, as high inflation, aggressive anti-inflation monetary policies, geopolitical instability, assertive antitrust regulators and tightening financing markets depressed target valuations, reduced strategic acquirer confidence and sidelined private equity sponsor buyers.
Source: Cooley’s 2022 Tech M&A Year in Review