After a slow start to M&A activity in 2023,

dealmakers seem to be starting to return to the negotiating table.

So what's the outlook for deal activity for 2024?

The level of dialogue is at the levels we saw frankly in 2021 and the first half of

2022, which were the most active M&A markets in history, has not realized yet in the number of transactions,

but the dialogue remains extremely robust right now.

I'm Alsna Nathan, and this is Goldman Sachs exchanges. To walk us through the factors that have shaped M&A in 2023 and the drivers of

activity going forward, I'm sitting down with Stephan Feldgeus and Mark Sorrell, the co-heads of the Global Mergers and Acquisitions

business in Goldman Sachs's Global Banking and Markets Division.

Stephen is joining me in the New York studio and Mark is joining us remotely from London.

Step and Mark welcome back to the program.

Thanks for having us.

Thank you.

Stephen, when we last spoke about the same time last year,

we were facing a lot of the same macrohead ones that were facing today.

We had just seen a year of dramatic interest rate increases.

We had recession fears, geopolitical concerns.

So start by explaining to us how that macro backdrop affected strategic

M&A activity this year. It's been interesting it feels since Mark and I

took over the M&A business in 2020 there's been a series of whether they be macro political COVID headwinds that have challenged the

M&A market I'd say and we're now at a point where I would say there's a number of new factors. Obviously,

geopolitical has risen to the top of the list currently, which has caused global

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