Global M&A Report 2026: How Reinvention Sparked the Great M&A Rebound (Bain & Company)

Summary

• Global M&A deal value rose 40% in 2025 to an estimated $4.9 trillion, and volume rose 7%.p.6
• Megadeals greater than $5 billion represented more than 73% of incremental deal value.p.6
• The relative share of capital allocated to M&A is at a low of 7%.p.6
• Scope deals accounted for 60% of big deals, the biggest year on record for deals driven by revenue growth.p.6
• Tech M&A was up by 77%, propelled by deals for AI-related assets such as Alphabet's $32 billion purchase of Wiz.p.8
• 40% of megadeals valued at more than $5 billion in the first 10 months of 2025 are categorized as transformative.p.10
• More than 85% of M&A executives said they refreshed their M&A pipeline.p.10

Key insights

1. Financial investors' deal value rose 36% and strategic deal value rose 42%, while venture capital and corporate venture capital rose 25%.p.7
2. All regions and industries grew by double digits in 2025.p.8
3. Palo Alto Networks acquired CyberArk for $25 billion.p.8
4. Greater China, the second-largest market, saw its domestic market account for more than 80% of deal value.p.9
5. Scope and capability deals averaged 48% of significant strategic deals from 2015 to 2024, against 60% in the first three quarters of 2025.p.14
6. Megadeals transformative for the acquirer are defined as those representing more than 50% of the acquirer's market cap.p.10