Global insurance mergers and acquisitions hit a 10-year high in 2022 before market activity slowed significantly.
Legal firm Clyde & Co’s Insurance Growth Report 2023 reveals that, last year, 449 mergers and acquisitions were completed in the insurance sector worldwide. This is up from 418 the previous year and is the highest figure for a decade.
However, there was a marked downturn in the second half of the year as economic and inflationary pressures hobbled investor sentiment, with 207 deals compared with 242 in the first six months.
The Americas remained the most active region, with 236 deals – up 5% on 2021. The first half of the year reached its highest level since 2011, with 132 deals, but this dropped by 21% to 104 in the second half.
Asia-Pacific had the highest year-on-year increase, with 60 transactions – up from 42 in 2021. It also saw an 22% increase in the second half of the year and was the only region not to experience a fall in that period. Europe saw the smallest annual increase, with 127 transactions – up from 125 the previous year.
“Deal-makers in the Americas and Europe are displaying a heightened sense of caution as they switch to wait-and-see mode in the face of market uncertainty, which will likely result in a lag in overall transaction volume,” said Clyde & Co’s corporate and advisory group chair, Eva-Maria Barbosa.
“In contrast, investors in Asia-Pacific were generally slower to regain confidence post-pandemic, but have put that reticence behind them with a consistent and increasing trend of rising deal numbers.”
