​After four months of large M&A deals keeping invested capital levels afloat, capital markets experienced an absolute drop off in M&A activity. According to preliminary Pitchbook data, there were only 269 deals for a total of $12.2 billion, representing a 23% and 85% decline, respectively. Compared against the same period one year ago, May’s totals are roughly half.

​Mergers and acquisitions have decreased – or at least paused temporarily - as the coronavirus has kept businesses shuttered and dealmakers at home or focused on other matters. Deal counts are down 54% since COVID-19’s most recent peak in January and invested capital figures have remained roughly constant. Year-to-date compared with 2019, deal count is down 11.4% and total invested capital is up just 4%. 

​Merger and acquisition deal count figures continued to slide in March as COVID-19’s impact unfolded across the United States. During the month, deal count totaled 433, representing a 25.9% decline from February, while invested capital grew 0.6% to $96.4 billion. For the first quarter, deal count is down 3.11% compared with 2019, while invested capital is up 5.06%.

​A handful of large-scale M&A deals kept total spending levels afloat in February, despite declining deal count figures. During the month, there were 691 corporate M&A deals, 25% lower than January, and $123 billion in spending, which is 14% greater than the month before. Moreover, median deal size and post-valuation figures are up 21% and 35%, respectively, month over month. 

​There were 720 M&A deals valued at a combined $194 billion in May, according to Pitchbook. For the year through the end of the May, there were 3,756 deals for $906 billion capital, roughly 1,140 fewer deals and $506 billion less value for the same period in 2018.

Pitchbook data reveals that $9.5 billion was invested across 27 M&A deals in the U.S. last week, 6 fewer deals and $75 billion less capital after outsized M&A activity in the week prior. Two deals – targets Cray and Hulu - were in the billion-dollar range. The Walt-Disney Company acquired full control of Hulu for $5.8 billion, after what once was joint ownership by Disney, 21st Century Fox, Comcast, and Time-Warner.

Data from Pitchbook shows that $84.5 billion was invested in 33 deals across American M&A markets last week, 10 more deals and $71.1 billion capital than the week prior. Four of those deals were for over $2.5 billion, including $38-billion and $23.3-billion-dollar deals, both of which were in the energy space. Another deal that caught significant media coverage was that of Boston Beer Co., the brewer of Samuel Adams brand beers, which paid $300 million to acquire Dogfish Head Brewery, a craft beer maker from Milton, Delaware. Dogfish produces over 250,000 barrels of beer annually.

Pitchbook data shows M&A activity slowing last week, with $3.6 billion invested across 24 deals, $11.2 billion capital and seven deals fewer than the week prior. Japanese multinational conglomerate Hitachi shelled out $1.43 billion for Michigan-based industrial robotics integrator JR Automation in the week’s largest deal. Deal making in the cannabis space was hot last week, with four U.S. cannabis producers and distributors being acquired.

​Data supplied by Pitchbook reveals that $14.8 billion in capital was deployed across 31 M&A transactions last week, four deals more and $28.8 billion less capital than the elevated levels of the week prior. The largest deal of the week was Waste Management’s $4.9 billion acquisition of Advanced Disposal, which will help expand the nation’s largest waste collector’s East Coast operations. Also, Canopy Growth announced a deal to acquire Acreage Holdings once cannabis is federally legalized in the U.S.

The U.S. job market added over 300,000 jobs while wages grew 3.2% for the last twelve months. The job market has been a shining spot in an economy facing rising rates, tariffs, and slowing global growth. New home sales grew dramatically month-to-month in November but are still slumped 7.7% from a year before. Lastly, the Institute for Supply Management showed that manufacturing growth is expanding at a faster rate in the first month of the new year, thanks to increased production and new orders.