Large global M&A picked up in 2024, with 29 deals of $10 billion or more in transaction value announced throughout the year, compared to 24 in 2023.

The year started out at a high point, with 10 large deals announced in the first quarter, followed by two slower quarters with five announced deals each. The fourth quarter brought nine $10 billion-plus deals. Of the three announced in December 2024, two were in the financials sector and one was in the TMT sector, which was active for large M&A deals over the year.

The three December 2024 deals were BlackRock Inc.'s $14.38 billion planned purchase of HPS Investment Partners LLC announced Dec. 3 and two deals announced Dec. 9: Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.'s $13.45 billion planned purchase of AssuredPartners Inc. and Omnicom Group Inc.'s $16.66 billion planned purchase of Interpublic Group of Cos. Inc.

Arthur J. Gallagher's strategy revolves around tuck-in acquisitions, of which it does more than 100 every year, Piper Sandler analyst Paul Newsome said in an interview. But the AssuredPartners deal is one of the largest deals the insurance company has ever announced.

The insurance industry has been consolidating for decades, Newsome said. Smaller insurance firms tend to grow faster than larger entities, making acquisitions the easier way for big firms to grow.

Arthur J. Gallagher generates a lot of cash, almost all of which goes into tuck-in acquisitions. The firm distinguishes itself by being an M&A machine, Newsome said. The scale of the AssuredPartners deal will not slow the firm's pace of smaller transactions, Chairman and CEO J. Patrick Gallagher Jr. told analysts on a deal call.

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A deal of such large scale was made possible through a large public offering the firm announced in conjunction with the acquisition. That approach is atypical for Arthur J. Gallagher, which usually funds smaller acquisitions through cash flow and debt, Newsome said.

The transaction is part of a larger trend in the insurance broker M&A space, Newsome said. The firm's peers, Aon PLC and Marsh & McLennan Cos. Inc., have announced similar deals in the middle market.

Private equity companies began buying insurance brokers about a decade ago. Within roughly the past year, three large private equity-based insurance brokers have sold to public companies, Newsome said.