CFO Slice

U.S. merger and acquisition activity remains on track to accelerate in 2025, despite signals from the Federal Reserve that it may slow the pace of trimming interest rates next year, according to PwC U.S. Deals Clients and Markets Leader Liz Crego. She said that the Fed's comments do not "materially" impact the Big Four firm's recent prediction that M&A activity will speed up next year due to “declining interest rates, large amounts of dry powder, the need for business model reinvention and shifting regulatory priorities.” The projected surge in M&A deals in 2025 comes after a year of “inconsistent recovery” due in part to uncertainty leading up to the November election, according to PwC’s recent analysis. During the first 11 months of 2024, there were 9,780 deals valued collectively at $1.05tn, up slightly from the same period a year earlier. “While caution over the past year was understandable and consistent with similar election cycles, PwC expects the recovery to pick up now that some sources of uncertainty have been resolved,” the report said.