As mergers and acquisitions regain momentum in 2024, Huntington National Bank EVP & Executive Managing Director of Credit Products Karen Davies joins Yahoo Finance Live to discuss why she believes "the deal flow is picking up."

Davies notes that the M&A landscape has been "sleepy" for the past two years. However, she expresses confidence that the impending Federal Reserve rate cuts will "bring capital back to the market," prompting an upswing in M&A activity. She points to the deal-making already witnessed in the first quarter, often "large deals", indicating "confidence in the market."

While acknowledging that the approaching election could "certainly swing things one way or the other" from a political standpoint, Davies emphasizes the pent-up demand in the M&A space, suggesting that "the window is opening for them."

For more expert insight and the latest market action, click here to watch this full episode of Market Domination Overtime.

Editor's note: This article was written by Angel Smith

Video Transcript

JOSH LIPTON: The mergers and acquisitions space is starting to pick up back up in 2024 is coming after a lull in dealmaking last year. For more perspective on the M&A space, we have Karen Davies, Huntington National Bank Executive VP and Executive Managing Director of Credit Products.

So, Karen, is good to see you. You say M&A is poised here for a rebound this year. How come, Karen? What are the reasons?

Well it's been sleepy. The past two years have been sleepy. A lot has been going on, obviously.

We had some turbulence in the banking market last year, which were obviously worked our way out of. But rising interest rates have put people on the sidelines. So we believe along with Alan here that maybe three rate cuts are coming as well.

And we believe that will bring the capital back to the market. The credit markets have opened back up. The dealmaking is already started to pick up in the first quarter.

Large deals are usually an indication of confidence in the market. So we've seen some mega deals already come to market in the first quarter. So we think that is a very good indication of what could come in '24 and '25, a continuation of that trend.

Obviously, we're reliant on those rate cuts to help ignite that speed at which that moves. But I do think there's still a lot of pent up demand, whether it be private credit, whether it be bank, lending, capabilities, and capital that we have to put to work. And we're seeing it already at Huntington and our pipelines that the deal flow is picking up. Not only on the buy sell side, but also on the pitch side with our investment bank arm.