With favorable macroeconomic conditions prevailing for much of 2018, high levels of cash among strategic acquirers and interest rates still at historically low levels (despite four interest rate hikes during the year), the number of reported M&A transactions and total deal value both increased worldwide.

The number of M&A transactions worldwide edged up less than 1%, from 53,064 deals in 2017 to 53,366 in 2018. Global M&A deal value increased 11%, from $3.21 trillion to $3.56 trillion.