The public mergers and acquisitions (M&A) market has seen a revival over the past 12 months, recording the highest number of deals in more than a decade, according to Corrs Chambers Westgarth.

Namely, Australia’s public M&A market saw 59 transactions in the 12 months to September 30, up from 56 in the previous corresponding period.

Despite the record deal volume, the total deal value fell from approximately $78.2 billion to about $46.1 billion.

At the same time, Kors explained that the year was not without its challenges.

"Last year, we predicted that there would be an increase in activity, but the dynamics of the market would be 'fragile', and that proved to be the case," the law firm explained in a new report.

Namely, inflationary pressures, combined with a still-perceptible divide between buyers and sellers on pricing, led to a significant increase in hostile deals, to 22 percent compared with 13 percent in the 12 months to September 2023.

And while Corrs expects next year to present additional challenges, she still expects further activity and a greater variety of M&A deals.

"Last year saw much higher levels of activity in the public M&A market than we have experienced in a long time, and while the year ahead will have some challenges, we believe these increased levels of activity will continue," the executive said of the corporate department Sandy Mac.

"Interest rates are stable and there is strong appetite for deals, so our outlook for M&A next year is buoyant."

According to Mack, available capital, a strong appetite for strategic growth in select sectors and the need to secure a competitive advantage are all factors that have been key drivers of increased activity.

Corrs also expects the energy and resources sector to continue to lead the local M&A landscape, retaining its position for the third consecutive year.

"Furthermore, we expect the technology sector to remain one of Australia's most active for M&A, with private equity playing a significant role," Mack said.

Looking ahead, the law firm highlighted that M&A deals could see a further spike ahead of Australia's merger clearance reforms.

Namely, from 1 January 2026, with a transitional regime available from mid-2025, a mandatory and deferred merger control regime will apply.

"This is a radical transformation from the previous voluntary notification regime for Australian traders ... essentially the new regime will cover a significant number of transactions and may result in significant transaction delays," Kors said.

As such, he expects that buyers and sellers may seek to expedite their transactions with a short timeline to completion to close their deals before the mandatory notification regime kicks in.

"Many parties to the merger seeking voluntary clearance in the second half of 2025 will seek to notify under the new regime to avoid the need to re-notify if clearance is not granted before 1 January 2026," it said in it.