Merger and acquisitions (M&A) activity is on the rebound. Despite the impact of high interest rates and low growth across all the major economies, the total deal value of mergers and acquisitions increased by 38 percent in first quarter 2024, compared with the same quarter in 2023, according to GlobalData’s latest report, Global M&A Deals in Q1 2024 — Top Themes by Sector — Thematic intelligence. The report highlights supply chain–related deals totaling $52 billion across 19 deals in first quarter 2024, making it the largest theme among the top 150 deals.
The biggest supply-chain deal was Novo Holdings’ acquisition of Catalent for $17 billion — the biggest in the healthcare sector in first quarter 2024. This was followed by Novo Nordisk’s acquisition of three fill-finish sites from Novo Holdings for $11 billion and Japan Investment Corp.’s acquisition of a 66.7 percent stake in JSR for $6 billion.
Another deal that recently made headl