Global M&A stays strong in 2026 despite tightest capital squeeze in 30

The global mergers and acquisitions boom that defined 2025 is carrying into 2026, as companies reassess their portfolios and artificial intelligence-led demand fuels large-scale transactions. However, a tightening capital pool is forcing executives to be more selective than ever.

Despite a sluggish start as Trump’s sweeping tariffs early last year briefly scuttled acquisitions and new public listings, the total value of deal-making activity surged nearly 40% to a record of $4.9 trillion in 2025, according to private market intelligence firm Pitchbook.

It surpassed the previous high of $4.86 trillion set in 2021, as deal count and value activity reached records, PitchBook said. Activity accelerated as central banks cut interest rates, valuations improved and companies increased spending on artificial intelligence.

Markets are betting that the surge will continue, as Wall Street regains its appetite for large deals amid the prospect of lower borrowing costs.

A Bain & Company survey of 300 M&A executives found that 80% expect to sustain or increase deal activity this year, citing improved macroeconomic conditions and a growing backlog of private equity and venture capital assets awaiting exit.

Goldman Sachs, drawing on its own poll of 600 corporate and financial sponsor clients, found that 57% believe scale and strategic growth will be the primary driver of deal decisions this year.

“As abrupt shifts in trade policies settled into a pattern of less threatening change, relief turned into confidence and then a fear of missing out,” said Jake Henry, global coleader of McKinsey’s M&A Practice.

Central to the shift is a decisive push by companies to reassess their portfolios, as geopolitical risks, economic fragmentation and uneven global growth force boards to reconsider where they operate and the risks they are willing to take.

“Leaders across industries recognize that many traditional business models have reached the limits of their historical growth engines,” said Suzanne Kumar, executive vice president of Bain’s global M&A and divestiture practice.

“Companies urgently need to reinvent themselves to get out ahead of the big forces of technology disruption, a post-globalization economy, and shifting profit pools,” Kumar added.

Goldman topped the global M&A ranking last year, advising on nearly 40 deals worth $1.48 trillion in total volume. It marked the strongest period for mega-deals by volume, according to Reuters, citing LSEG records dating back to 1980.

Still, companies remain cautious. Boston Consulting Group’s M&A sentiment index rebounded to 75 from its low in late 2022…