NEW YORK, March 28 Reuters Mergers and acquisitions MA bounced back in the first quarter after a downbeat 2023, thanks to the return of mega deals, cheering investment bankers and lawyers waiting for a pickup.

Total MA volumes globally climbed 30 to about 755.1 billion, according to the most recent data from Dealogic. The number of transactions worth more than 10 billion jumped to 14, compared with five during the same period last year.

Investment bankers said boardroom confidence for dealmaking has improved on the back of strong earnings, potential interest rate cuts this year and an ebullient market.

When you see larger deals happening, it39;s a much more direct sign of the returning health of the market, because boards and CEOs, due to the nature of large deals, are going to be more conservative when they approach them, said Blair Effron, cofounder of investment bank Centerview Partners. We do think that the activity that we see today is heading in the right direction.

U.S. MA volumes surged 59 to 431.8 billion. European deals jumped 64, while Asia Pacific volumes slumped 40. Dealmakers said a potential market recovery, following the successful debuts of Astera Labs and Reddit, could provide a boost to the pipeline.

The fact that we39;ve got two data points in the IPO market…gives the CEOs, boards and financial sponsors that we39;re talking to, a sense that there might be multiple paths to achieve their objectives rather than one, said Tyler Dickson, head of…