Year In Review: From Twitter to HDFC Ltd, successful M&As of 2022

The year 2022 turned out to be an eventful one for merger & acquisition deals. In the year's first nine months alone, we saw M&As touch an all-time high of $148 billion.

This came as dealmakers faced the most challenging environment for M&A since the 2008 financial crisis. The level of M&A activity in 2022 was in line with recent pre-pandemic levels, despite slowing down relative to 2021's frantic pace, Boston Consulting Group said in a report published in October.

1. Microsoft's acquisition of Activision Blizzard

In January, Microsoft acquired the "Call of Duty" maker Activision Blizzard for $68.7 billion in the biggest gaming industry deal in history. The deal turned the Xbox maker into the third-largest gaming company by revenue-- just behind Tencent and Sony. Activision Blizzard's games lineup includes "Candy Crush," "Warcraft," "Diablo," "Overwatch" and "Hearthstone."

2. Broadcom's acquisition of VMware

Computer chipmaker Broadcom bought cloud services provider VMware in a cash-and-stock deal valued at $61 billion. Once closed, the deal would be one of the largest technology acquisitions of all time, behind Microsoft's $69 billion deal to purchase Activision Blizzard.

3. HDFC Bank's acquisition of HDFC Ltd

In April 2022, India's largest private lender HDFC Bank said it would buy its biggest shareholder in a $40 billion deal, the country's biggest ever, to create a $160 billion financial services titan that will be better positioned to tap towering demand for home loans. The proposed entity will have a combined asset base of around Rs 18 trillion, and the merger is expected to be completed by the second or third quarter of FY24.

4. Elon Musk buys Twitter

In October, billionaire Elon Musk closed his $44 billion deal to buy Twitter after months of dilly-dallying, drama and a lawsuit. The Tesla owner's Twitter takeover is also one of the biggest tech acquisitions of all time.

5. Adobe's acquisition of Figma

In September, Adobe agreed to buy software design startup Figma in a deal valued at $20 billion. The cash-and-stock deal gave Adobe ownership of a company whose collaborative platform for designs and brainstorming is used by firms including Zoom and Coinbase. The deal is expected to close next year.