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Laxman Pai, Opalesque Asia:

The total value of mergers and acquisitions (M&A) in the U.S. and Canada dropped to $1.477 trillion in 2022, down 41.4% from 2021, said a study. The number of transactions in 2022 fell 21.2% year over year to 20,965.

According to S&P Global Market Intelligence data, activity was particularly slow in the second half of 2022 with $517.85 billion of deals, down 38.2% from the first six months of the year and less than half the total in the same period in 2021.

The $68.99 billion Microsoft Corp. takeover of gaming company Activision Blizzard Inc. agreed on in January ended up being the biggest deal of the year, just ahead of Broadcom Inc.'s $67.99 billion deal for VMware Inc. The Microsoft-Activision deal has drawn regulatory scrutiny in the U.S.

Elon Musk's much-watched private takeover of Twitter Inc. was the third-largest deal and has so far proven to be a difficult transition that has contributed to a sharp slump in the share price of Tesla Inc., Musk's electric car company.

Meanwhile, the fourth-quarter 2022 M&A activity marked a weak end to a depressed year in North America as rising interest rates and a slowing economy dissuaded companies from expanding, the report said.

Activity in the consumer sector in the fourth quarter of 2022 was driven by The Kroger Co.'s takeover of Albertsons Cos. Inc. The $30.60 billion merger between two of the largest supermarket chains in the U.S. is subject to regulatory hurdles, ......................

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