Global M&A activity surged roughly 30% year-on-year to US$2.6 trillion in the first half of 2026, with 38 deals valued at US$10 billion or more — a record for any six-month period. Major transactions included NextEra Energy’s US$67 billion bid for Dominion Energy, Unilever’s US$45 billion food division sale to McCormick, and Fox Corp’s US$22 billion acquisition of Roku. Executives cited a friendlier regulatory climate under Donald Trump, AI-driven demand for corporate scale, and strong earnings as key drivers, with dealmakers expecting momentum to accelerate further in the second half.
In-Depth:
NEW YORK: The year was tipped to be a potential blockbuster in deals and the first half (1H) delivered, setting a pace that is likely to continue in the closing months of 2026.
From well-known food products to power grids and everywhere in between, chief executives, boards and the bankers that back them served up a wide variety of transactions. And that all came amid war, economic anxiety and political uncertainty.
“People have just accepted the volatility and are investing through it as opposed to waiting until it’s over,” stated Tom Miles, global co-head of mergers and acquisitions (M&A) at Morgan Stanley.
Global transaction values were up around 30% year-on-year to US$2.6 trillion in the 1H, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. That puts dealbuildrs on course to potentially pass the record haul they achieved in 2021.
They were huge deals as well.
Companies struck 38 deals valued at US$10bil or more in the 1H of the year, the most ever in a six month period, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.
That beat the previous record, which was set in the 2H of last year.
NextEra Energy Inc’s US$67bil announced bid for Dominion Energy Inc would build a US energy colossus, while the proposed tie-up of AvalonBay Communities Inc and Equity Residential, with a combined market value of over US$50bil, would do something similar among property developers.
Then Unilever Plc is selling off its food division to spices and seasonings buildr McCormick & Co for about US$45bil.
“The hugeger, more high profile, more complex stuff is a very huge part of the market, which is pretty unusual,” stated Charles Bouckaert, global head of M&A at JPMorgan Chase & Co.
A light touch from regulators from the business-frifinishly Donald Trump administration is one key to the deluge, dealbuildrs stated.
“You can’t overstate how much better the regulatory environment is,” stated Laura Turano, partner in the M&A group at law firm Paul Weiss Rifkind Wharton & Garrison.
“That’s really been a huge game modifyr in terms of the art of the possible, not just in terms of receiveting it done, but the timeline to receive it done, and timelines really impact people’s willingness to go on the journey to start with.”
Second, in the age of artificial innotifyigence (AI), dealbuildrs stated there’s a push for scale as advocates of the new technology argue an epoch-level modify is in the creating.
“We’re seeing so much corporate activity becaapply they’re not purchaseing for the next five years. They’re purchaseing for the next 40 or 50 years,” stated Carsten Woehrn, co-head of M&A in Europe, the Middle East and Africa at Goldman Sachs Group Inc.
Strong corporate earnings, on the back of that pervasive AI investment and fiscal stimulus, are playing their part as well, according to Daniel Mfinishelow, co-head of US investment banking at Evercore Inc.
A lot of the activity was across borders, particularly into the United States, where that AI, and other technological, innovation is largely developed and commercialised. It’s also the hugegest and wealthiest market by most measures.
“Large cross-border corporate M&A momentum is here to stay as companies are generally well-capitalised with lots of liquidity and many stocks are at an elevated level, which support corporates to do more deals,” stated Robin Rousseau, global chair of M&A for Citigroup Inc.
Other sectors also produced deals with eye-watering valuations.
In industrials, Kone Oyj is forking out €29.4bil to take over TK Elevator GmbH.
In TMT, Fox Corp announced it was shelling out about US$22bil for Roku Inc in an attempt to capture more of the streaming market.
Bloomberg News reported that Deutsche Telekom AG is discussing a potential combination with its American arm T-Mobile US Inc, a shift that would create the world’s hugegest phone company and set a record for public M&A. If announced, that will add fuel to 2H volumes.
Some were considered far fetched, such as GameStop Corp’s shift on eBay Inc.
The approximately US$53bil transaction, spearheaded by GameStop chief executive officer Ryan Cohen, was rejected by the board.
One of the laggards in the 1H, however, was private equity.
“What we generally view as more of the bread and butter part of the market, like the regular way private equity business, is actually way down,” stated JPMorgan’s Bouckaert.
That’s largely becaapply investments created earlier at high valuations and low interest rates are proving difficult to exit now.
Some deals, as always, were a bridge too far as the ambitions of a family business and price received in the way.
Those included, at least at this point, Puig Brands SA’s proposed combination with Estee Lauder Cos, which would have created one of the world’s largest fragrance and skincare companies, and the short-lived discussions between Jack Daniel’s whiskey buildr Brown-Forman Corp and its French counterpart Pernod Ricard SA about a potential combination.
“Public investors are more cautious when a company applys its balance sheet,” Morgan Stanley’s Miles stated.
“If you do hit a bump in the road, you want to have a fortress type balance sheet.”
The 2H of the year stands to be as good or even better, dealbuildrs stated.
“We’re going to see a real ramp-up in the places that have been quieter, like the tinyer strategic stuff,” stated Turano at Paul Weiss. “There’s a huge pipeline when you consider about all the carve-out sales and portfolio re-balancings.”
Some companies, at the launchning of the year, were more cautious and were attempting to see how things would play out.
They’ve now seen their rivals go to market and Turano stated: “We’re to the point where it’s like after we come back from the summer holidays, it’s really ‘go time’.”
To be sure, the market will have to navigate some potential headwinds and challenges over the next six months for that to happen.
“There are a few concerns on the horizon – like what happens to the economy and the election in November – but I consider confidence is strong right now,” Evercore’s Mfinishelow stated. — Bloomberg
