"Merger and acquisition activity in the first half of 2022 slowed from the sizzling pace in 2021. With Russia invading Ukraine, inflation and interest rates soaring, and the stock market turning bearish, deal makers faced headwinds from multiple directions. Global deal volume fell 26 percent while deal value dropped 30 percent from the first half of 2021.1 But as the year progresses and worries about recession grow, appetite for deal making has hardly disappeared, according to 360 U.S. business leaders KPMG surveyed at the end of May."