Global M&A On Pace for Second-best Year Ever
Global M&A activity surged 41% year-over-year to $2.4 trillion in the first five months of 2026, putting the market on track for its second-highest annual total on record after a 2025 that saw deal value rise 40% to $4.9 trillion, according to Bain & Company.
The resurgence is broad-based across sectors and geographies, driven by executives pursuing scale, resilience, and capability as they navigate AI disruption, slowing growth, higher inflation, and the closure of the Strait of Hormuz.
Megadeals are leading the charge. Transactions valued above $10 billion grew 52% in number and 53% in value year-over-year, with funding shifting toward stock-plus-cash combinations at a historical high of 35% — pushing all-cash deal value to a cyclical low of 55%. Europe emerged as a global hotspot, with EMEA deal value climbing 77% driven by domestic consolidation and cross-border scale plays including UniCredit’s renewed approach to Commerzbank and Kone’s $34.4 billion bid for TK Elevator.
“Companies are pursuing bold deals to secure the scale and capability they need for a fast-changing world. The new challenge is that the AI boom fueling many of these deals is also creating a paradox: it has rarely been harder to get large, complex transactions right, yet they represent the single biggest opportunity if you do,” Suzanne Kumar, executive vice president, global M&A practice, Bain & Company, said.
Bain’s report identifies a “winner’s paradox” at the heart of today’s deal landscape: companies must simultaneously execute large integrations — which can take 36 months or more — and accelerate AI transformations that cannot be put on hold. Bain finds that leading integration programs are already using AI to identify cost synergies two to three times more quickly than traditional diligence methods allow.
