Global M&A Hits $2.6 Trillion Peak, Fueled by AI Boom and Corporate Growth Strategies

Global M&A hits $2.6 trillion peak year-to-date, boosted by AI and quest for growth

LONDON, Aug 4 (Reuters) - Global dealmaking has reached $2.6 trillion, the highest for the first seven months of the year since the 2021 pandemic-era peak, as a quest for growth in corporate boardrooms and the impact of a surge in AI activity has overcome the uncertainty caused by U.S. tariffs. The number of transactions to August 1 is 16% lower than the same time last year, but their value is 28% higher, according to Dealogic data, boosted by U.S. megadeals valued at more than $10 billion. They include Union Pacific Corp's proposed $85 billion acquisition of small rival Norfolk Southern and OpenAI's $40 billion funding round, opens new tab led by Softbank Group (9984.T), opens new tab. The upsurge will be a relief to bankers who began the year with expectations the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump would lead to a wave of consolidation. Instead, his trade tariffs and geopolitical uncertainty made companies pause until renewed confidence in corporate boardrooms and the U.S. administration's anti-trust agenda changed the mood. "What you're seeing in terms of deal rationale for transactions right now is that it's heavily growth-motivated, and it's increasing," Andre Veissid, EY Global Financial Services Strategy and Transactions Leader, told Reuters. "Whether it's artificial intelligence, the change in the regulatory environment, we see our clients not wanting to be left behind in that race and that's driving activity." Compared with August 2021, when investors, rebounding from pandemic lockdowns drove the value of deals to $3.57 trillion, this year's tally is nearly a $1 trillion, or 27%, lower. Still deal-makers at JPMorgan Chase JP Morgan Chase have said there is more to come, with companies pursuing bigger deals in the second half of the year as executives adapt to volatility. "People have got used to the prevailing uncertainty, or maybe the unpredictability post-U.S. election is just more predictable now," Simon Nicholls, co-head of Slaughter and May Corporate and M&A group, said. Nigel Wellings, Partner at Clifford Chance said the market was moving beyond tariffs. "Boardrooms are seeing the M&A opportunity of a more stable economic environment and positive regulatory signals. But it is not a frothy market." FROM HEALTH TO TECH While the healthcare sector drove M&A in the years after the pandemic, the computer and electronics industry has produced more takeover bids in the U.S. and the United Kingdom in the last two years, according to Dealogic. Artificial intelligence is expected to drive more dealmaking. M&A activity has increased around data centre usage, such as Samsung's (005930.KS), opens new tab $1.7 billion acquisition of Germany's FlaktGroup, a data centre cooling specialist. Palo Alto Networks $25 billion deal for Israeli cybersecurity peer CyberArk was the largest deal in Europe, Middle East and Africa so far this year as rising AI-driven threats push companies to adopt stronger defences. Private equity, which had been sitting on the sidelines, has once again been active, with Sycamore Partners' $10 billion deal to take private Walgreens Boots Alliance and a sweetened $6.4 billion offer from Advent for UK scientific instrument maker Spectris (SXS.L), opens new tab. The U.S. was the biggest market for M&A, accounting for more than half of the global activity. Asia Pacific's dealmaking doubled over the same year to date period last year, outpacing the EMEA region. Reporting by Emma-Victoria Farr and Amy-Jo Crowley in London, writing by Anousha Sakoui. Editing by Barbara Lewis Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles., opens new tab * Suggested Topics: * Deals Emma-Victoria Farr Thomson Reuters Emma-Victoria reports on mergers and acquisitions across Europe, with previous experience at Mergermarket, Bloomberg, The Daily Telegraph and Deutsche Presse Agentur.

OpenAI, Palo Alto, SoftBank Deals Power $2.6 Trillion Global M&A Boom -- Biggest Since 2021 Pandemic Peak - Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META), Salesforce (NYSE:CRM)

Global dealmaking surged to $2.6 trillion through August, marking the highest seven-month total since 2021's pandemic-era peak. Artificial intelligence-driven transactions and corporate growth strategies overcame tariff uncertainties to fuel the strongest merger activity in three years. Mega Deals Drive Volume Surge Despite Fewer Transactions Deal value jumped 28% year-over-year while transaction count dropped 16%, according to Dealogic data. U.S. megadeals exceeding $10 billion powered the surge, including OpenAI's $40 billion funding round led by SoftBank Group Corp. SFTBY, and major technology acquisitions involving Palo Alto Networks Inc. PANW. AI Infrastructure Fuels Technology Sector Leadership Technology deals captured $478 billion in volume, representing 24% of global activity. OpenAI's massive funding round and Scale AI's $14.3 billion investment from Meta Platforms Inc. META highlight AI's market dominance. Salesforce Inc. CRM agreed to pay $9.3 billion for Informatica to enhance data ingestion capabilities for large language models. Financial services ranked second with government-led Chinese bank recapitalizations, including $22.7 billion in Bank of China placements. See Also: Trump Is Playing With Inflation Data, People Say -- Here's What We Know Corporate Confidence Rebounds After Initial Tariff Pause Early Trump administration tariff announcements initially stalled mid-market deals valued between $200 million and $1 billion. Deal volume in this segment declined 3.2% as companies reassessed financial models. "Many mid-cap, smaller companies have paused dealmaking due to this uncertainty," said Liz Crego, PwC's deals leader. However, mega deals proved resilient due to long-term strategic rationale. Regional Growth Led by Asia-Pacific Surge North America captured nearly half of global volume at $970 billion, rising 11% year-over-year. Asia-Pacific posted the strongest growth, surging 97% to $572 billion, driven by Japanese cross-shareholding unwinds and Chinese bank capitalizations. Deal count reached a two-decade low of 16,663 transactions through June, down 16% from 2024. However, 33 deals exceeded $10 billion, marking the strongest half since late 2020. Disclaimer: This content was partially produced with the help of AI tools and was reviewed and published by Benzinga editors. Photo courtesy: Svet foto / Shutterstock.com CRMSalesforce Inc $253.600.51% Stock Score Locked: Edge Members Only Benzinga Rankings give you vital metrics on any stock - anytime. Unlock Rankings Edge Rankings Momentum 24.80 Growth 91.77 Quality 60.98 Value 9.94 Price Trend Short Medium Long Overview METAMeta Platforms Inc $777.400.13% PANWPalo Alto Networks Inc $171.310.18% SFTBYSoftBank Group Corp $38.72-2.35% UNPUnion Pacific Corp $222.06-% Market News and Data brought to you by Benzinga APIs

AI Boom Helps Fuel $2.6 Trillion Dealmaking Rebound | PYMNTS.com

By completing this form, you agree to receive marketing communications from PYMNTS and to the sharing of your information with our sponsor, if applicable, in accordance with our Privacy Policy and Terms and Conditions. That's according to a report Monday (Aug. 4) by Reuters, which says this figure is the highest for the first seven months of the year since 2021, during the peak of the pandemic. It's a trend driven by a drive for corporate growth and an upswing in artificial intelligence (AI) activity, helping offset tariff-related uncertainty. While the number of deals for the first seven months of the year is 16% lower than the same period in 2024, their value is 28%, Reuters added, citing Dealogic data. Among this year's more high-profile deals include Union Pacific railroad's proposed $85 billion acquisition of rival Norfolk Southern and OpenAI's $40 billion funding round. The report notes that this upswing will come as a relief to bankers who came into 2025 thinking that the Trump administration would usher in a wave of dealmaking. But the current White House trade policy, coupled with geopolitical uncertainty, have caused companies to pause. "What you're seeing in terms of deal rationale for transactions right now is that it's heavily growth-motivated, and it's increasing," Andre Veissid, EY Global Financial Services strategy and transactions leader, told Reuters. "Whether it's artificial intelligence, the change in the regulatory environment, we see our clients not wanting to be left behind in that race and that's driving activity." This year's total is still 27% lower than the $3.57 trillion in deals recorded during the first seven months of 2021, the report adds. However, Reuters continued, dealmakers at JPMorgan Chase expect further deals to come with companies pursuing bigger targets in the second as they adapt to volatility. And companies are learning to adapt, as forthcoming research from the PYMNTS Intelligence 2025 Certainty Project has shown, with perceived uncertainty falling to its lowest point in nearly a year among services companies surveyed. "Executives, it seems, are treating the current environment like spinach. It's not what they want, but they're eating it, because they finally know what's on the plate," PYMNTS wrote last week. "And what's on the plate is more heapings of uncertainty requiring operational agility across key areas like supply chain management, procurement and product." Research has shown that 57% of product leaders have adjusted their product lines in response to tariffs, while more than half of firms have switched to domestically sourced materials. A growing number of firms are deploying AI, with 52% of companies saying they've accelerated AI adoption as part of their mitigation strategy.