It’s no secret that the M&A market declined in 2023 as the valuation gap between what buyers wanted to spend and what sellers wanted to charge for their companies kept many would-be deals from happening. M&A practitioners told us that the valuation gap was the biggest obstacle to dealmaking, and there were other headwinds in 2023 as well, including high interest rates, macroeconomic uncertainty, rising regulatory scrutiny, and new political pressures.