Following a year of record M&A activity, the first quarter of 2022 finished strong compared to historical trends. 

Substantial liquidity among strategics, private equity firms, institutional investors, and SPACs is driving up transaction multiples. The average Enterprise Value / EBITDA was 24.9x, rivaling the second quarters of 2021 and 2019, both well above average. Multiples in this range indicate we are still in a seller’s market.

Global economic uncertainty driven by rising interest rates, supply chain challenges, labor shortages, military conflict, and volatility in the equity markets continues to pose headwinds for the M&A landscape for the remainder of 2022.