M&A – our 2026 global M&A outlook

We have published our latest annual global M&A report, titled “Hanging out, ‘situationships’ and going official – it’s complicated”.

This time last year we asked whether the M&A market was ready for take‑off in 2025. The answer? It was complicated. Optimism quickly gave way to uncertainty, and the first half of the year saw many buyers and sellers stuck in ‘situationships’ rather than closing deals.

But resilience returned. As policy direction became clearer, confidence rebuilt, leading to a powerful Q3 surge driven by the US, by strategics and by megadeals. Deal teams again relied on creativity and discipline to bridge valuation gaps, navigate regulatory complexity, and get difficult transactions over the line.

Our Global M&A Outlook 2026 explores what we saw in M&A in 2025 – from early hesitation to late‑year momentum – and what we expect for the year ahead.

The topics we discuss are:

• Tariffs cause tension – how trade levies and geopolitics are influencing deal terms and reshaping global M&A strategies.
• When deals go sour – economic shifts, regulatory changes and market disruptors like AI are injecting uncertainty and fuelling conflict in transactions.
• AI in M&A – opportunity or risk? From deal inception and valuation to execution, artificial intelligence is reshaping transactions.
• The art of getting the deal done – amid economic and geopolitical uncertainty, dealmakers are leaning on different skillsets to get transactions over the line.
• The activist agenda – activists are accelerating restructurings, divestments and deal activity.

You can read the full report here. To provide more depth to our insights, we will be releasing regional perspectives from our offices around the world in February, followed by sector-specific perspectives in March.