The total deal value of global mergers and acquisitions (M&A) is expected to reach $4.8 trillion in 2025, a 36% increase from 2024. Growth is mainly driven by megadeals worth $5 billion or more, while the number of deals increased only slightly (+5%).
These are the findings of the Bain & Company’s 2026 Global M&A Report. A striking trend is that 2025 was a year of big bets by companies that traditionally make few deals.
Technology M&A, powered by AI-related deals, is also playing a central role. However, the growth is broad-based: deal values are rising by double digits in almost all industries and regions.
The United States leads in deal value, China in deal volume, and Japan’s M&A market meanwhile doubled in value compared to last year.
The report shows:
- Megadeals account for 75% of growth in strategic deal value, with 60% coming from companies that typically make few acquisitions.
- Technology deals rose 76% to $478 billion, with nearly half of larger deals involving AI-native companies or deals that cited AI benefits.
- Advanced manufacturing was also a major driver of dealmaking, with value up 38% to $717 billion.
- Dealmakers saw value increase by 38% among strategic buyers, 31% among financial investors and 28% among venture capital player.
Easing regulations, lower capital costs, and narrower buyer-seller valuation gap contribute to the favorable climate. AI is playing an increasingly important role: more than 85% of executives surveyed by Bain have revamped their M&A pipeline. Three-quarters of strategic buyers are actively assessing the impact of AI, and at least 20% have abandoned a deal due to AI-related factors. The use of AI agents in the M&A process, particularly in deal sourcing and integration, has more than doubled.
Companies are increasingly using M&A to enter new markets or customer segments. Sixty percent of all deals exceeding $1 billion are scope deals, the highest level ever. This shifts the focus from increasing scale to growth and expanding capabilities.
Bain will publish the full Global M&A Report 2026 in January 2026, featuring sector analyses and insights from over 300 M&A executives. More information about the results can be found here .
