Our first report of the year reflects on the chemicals and materials M&A market of 2022, as well as our outlook for the year ahead. Higher interest rates and credit costs, global economic uncertainty, political instability, and other factors contributed to M&A activity in 2022 declining from record levels in 2021, and these challenges linger into 2023. However, Grace Matthews expects M&A markets to remain resilient and steady as buyers and sellers establish a “normalized” level following the volatility of 2020 (COVID-19), 2021 (supply chain issues), and 2022.

Additionally, corporate divestitures are a segment of the M&A market that we expect to continue to remain active as large companies funnel capital to priority areas while divesting non-core businesses/segments whose value can be unlocked more quickly under different ownership.