Source page: McKinsey & Company
Commentary
2024's M&A momentum
M&A
April 10, 2025 – M&A activity in 2024 experienced an increase in both the value of deals over $25 million and the number of such deals. Yet not every sector saw M&A value grow, for example, advanced industries, consumer goods, and life sciences. And while M&A deals in the global energy and materials segment were also slightly lower, it along with financials services and the technology, media, and telecommunications sectors accounted for almost 60 percent of deal activity value, note Senior Partners Jake Henry and Mieke Van Oostende. Click through the interactive to see more.
To read the report, see “M&A Annual Report: Is the wave finally arriving?,” February 19, 2024.
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Visual form
Stacked Bar / Stacked Column and Line Chart: five-panel sector dashboard for 2024 M&A activity.
Layout / body structure
Each sector frame repeats the same five panels: regional deal value, regional deal volume, private-equity share, subsector activity share, and average deal size by subsector.
What is being compared
It compares M&A activity across sector views such as advanced industries, global energy and materials, and travel, logistics, and infrastructure, using the same regional, private-equity, subsector, and deal-size measures in each frame.
Measurement system
Deal value and average deal size are measured in billions of dollars, deal volume is counted as number of deals, and private-equity and subsector mixes are measured as percentages.
Visible structure inside the graphic
Stacked regional bars occupy the top-left and top-middle panels, a vertical private-equity share panel sits at top right, subsector-share stacked bars sit at bottom left, and a multi-line average-deal-size chart sits at bottom right.
Main takeaway from the visual
The dashboard shows 2024 M&A momentum as uneven by sector, with different regional mixes, private-equity patterns, subsector leaders, and deal-size trajectories.
Key standout values or extremes
In advanced industries, industrials and electronics make up 52 percent of 2024 volume and private-equity activity rises to 22 percent after 8 percent in 2023. In global energy and materials, electric power and natural gas account for 37 percent of 2024 volume, and in travel, logistics, and infrastructure, logistics reaches 52 percent of 2024 deal volume.
Controls / sequence, when applicable
Previous and Next move through sector frames while preserving the same five-panel dashboard structure.
Companion media, when applicable
There is no separate companion audio or video; the M&A sector dashboard is the visual on this page.