Industry Insights: Global Packaging Industry, Fall 2022
Transaction Activity Resilient in the Face of Challenges
After a banner year for acquisitions in 2021, everyone anticipated a decrease in deal activity. Indeed, broader measures for 2022 suggest deal activity will be down as much as 20%versus 2021. Anecdotally, greater availability among providers of QOEs and Rep & Warranty Insurance indicates capacity in these support industries, which further supports a sense of a softer market.
Year-to-date through July, however, our universe of packaging transactions was up 3% from where we were in July 2021. Early returns from July and August suggest that this trend continued through the summer. As volumes in Q4-2021 were unusually strong, we anticipate overall annual volumes to remain essentially flat with 2021 by year end.
How is this possible, given the headwinds of increasing inflation and interest rates, geopolitical unrest, and continued labor and supply chain issues?
