2025 M&A Review and 2026 Outlook (Lazard)

Summary

• Global announced M&A deal value rose 40% year-over-year in 2025.p.8
• Sponsor-led take-private activity in North America rose over 60% year-over-year, reaching its highest level since 2007.p.11
• The total value of completed divestitures and spins over $1 billion grew by 50% year-over-year.p.11
• Japan M&A surged approximately 80% in 2025, driven in part by shareholder-friendly capital market reforms.p.8
• The four largest sectors made up about 65% of deal value in 2025.p.9

Key insights

1. Transactions between $5-$10 billion rose 50%, $1-$5 billion deals grew 25%, and sub $1 billion deals only 5%.p.10
2. PIF, Silver Lake, and Affinity Partner's $55.0 billion take-private of EA Sports was among the blockbuster transactions.p.11
3. Sycamore Partners' $23.7 billion acquisition of Walgreens was another large take-private.p.11
4. Sovereign wealth funds, particularly from the Middle East, are playing a growing role as active co-investors in major take-privates.p.11
5. Three key quantifiable factors explain 60% of variation in historical deal value in the U.S.p.5
6. Avidity was acquired by Novartis for $11 billion after growing from a market cap of $400 million in just two years.p.15