Mergers and acquisitions slowed down in February across the globe, with no deals surpassing the $10 billion mark announced during the month.
According to S&P Global Market Intelligence data, February is the first month since July 2024 where there were no new $10 billion M&A deals announced globally.
It also marks a slowdown from January, when four deals valued at more than $10 billion were announced.
The number of large global deals in the first two months of 2025 was also four less than the same period in 2024.
North America falls behind
Amid the drop in large-scale deals, total M&A volume in North America fell to $130 billion in February, the lowest level since February 2023, according to a Bank of America report.
This is a decline from the $180 billion announced in January.
The analysts expect M&A in 2025 to be stronger than what was observed in the first two months.
While M&A activity was anticipated to rise due to factors like relaxed regulations from the Trump administration and a recovery after two years of low deal volumes, these expectations have yet to materialize.
"Volatility is not good for M&A volumes," Bank of America credit analyst Yuri Seliger wrote in a March 7 note.
"The volatility started towards the end of the month, so it's a bit unclear why exactly volumes were lower in February. My best guess is that they were lower because of uncertainty related to tariffs and possibly US fiscal policy."
It is too soon to draw large-scale conclusions from the lack of transactions last month, Seliger added.
"Right now, people are talking about recession risks," Seliger wrote. "Obviously that was not really true for most of February, but if we start discussing recession risks, I think that should not be good for M&A volumes. It's more difficult to value companies when there's so much uncertainty."