Private funding of infrastructure and energy markets rose to another record of USD 1.07trn last year, according to Infralogic’s 2022 Rankings and Trend Report. It was the second year in a row in which deal activity topped USD 1trn — and came partly due to a strong fourth quarter following three straight quarters of declining activity.
The boom goes on
With 3,369 transactions and USD 1.07trn in activity, transaction activity in 2022 set another record — rising 1.9% in terms of the number of transactions and 2.4% more in terms of value compared with 2021, according to Infralogic data. To put this growth in perspective, transaction values last year almost doubled 2017’s USD 552m in deal activity:
Clifford Chance was the top legal advisor by deal count globally in 2022, EY was the top financial advisor and Arup was the top technical advisor. MUFG was the top loan arranger, provider and loan arranger worldwide last year.
US dominates, but Italy has an exceptional year
The United States remained the top country in terms of activity last year, with 744 closed transactions — more than doubling the 330 that closed in the UK, the second most-active nation by deal count. In terms of deal value, the difference is even more stark. US transactions reached almost USD 330bn in value in 2022, more than tripling the USD 107.39bn in deals that closed in Italy — the second highest nation by value.
Indeed, Italy posted the biggest increase in deal value among top geographies in 2022, driven by large transactions such as the Atlantia Take-Private (USD 44bn), the Autostrade per l’Italia sale (USD 18.9bn) and the CK Hutchison European Towers Sale (USD 11bn):
In comparison, in 2021 only USD 26.24bn in deals closed in Italy.
North America closes value gap with Europe; Australasia takes third
Deal value in the US and Canada reached USD 345.8bn in 2020 — about 10% less than Europe, where USD 380.6bn in transactions closed. That was a narrower gap than in 2021, when North America deal activity by value lagged Europe by 24%. Australasia was the third most active region last year, and the Asia-Pacific region fell to fifth, while Latin America remained in fourth place:
Transport again leads sectors, while telecom grows
Transport sector deals rose to USD 265bn in value last year, leading energy (USD 214bn) and renewables (USD 213bn). Transport has been the most active sector worldwide since 2018, and grew last year, while activity in both the energy and renewables sectors fell from 2021 levels. Telecommunications sector activity grew in 2022 to USD 183bn from 151.8bn the previous year:
GPs, funds more active than ever; developers lead by count
In terms of transaction value, the most active type of investors last year were GPs — which include funds. Transactions involving GP or fund equity activity totalled USD 478.7bn in 2022 — representing 45% of all deal activity. Transaction values are represented by bars in this chart:
By transaction count, developers retained the number one spot last year. But the number of transactions in which GPs and fund equity was involved rose by 19% to 984 last year from 826 in 2021. Transaction count is represented by lines in the above chart.
M&A accounts for much of 2022’s growth
M&A activity grew sharply last year from 2021 levels, jumping 29% by value to USD 490.39bn, and 9% by deal count to 1,736. Greenfield and refinancing activity, meanwhile, fell last year from 2021 levels:
