After dealmaking slowed momentarily in early 2025, global M&A activity quickly assumed a grand scale—delivering big gains for the year. All this week, we explore M&A trends, from megadeals to cross-regional trading and more.
M&A is regaining momentum across industries, with bigger, more targeted bets. For three sectors in particular—financial services, global energy and materials, and technology, media, and telecommunications (TMT)—2025 marked a shift from broad-based dealmaking to scale- and capability-driven megadeals, Senior Partners Jake Henry and Mieke Van Oostende note. In financial services, deal value increased by roughly 40 percent from 2024, reaching $499 billion despite relatively flat overall deal volume. In global energy and materials, 39 percent of deal volume came from electric power, natural gas, and utilities, with some geographic divergences. Meanwhile, in TMT, a relatively small number of large transactions shaped M&A, with deal value concentrated in software and scaled media platforms. Click through the interactive to see more.
To read the report, see “2026 M&A trends: Navigating a rapidly rebounding market,” February 13, 2026.