Global M&A poised to sustain momentum in 2026 after great rebound, finds Bain & Company

• 80% of M&A executives expect to sustain or increase deal activity in 2026 after near-record rebound in 2025, finds Bain's survey
• Technology disruption, geopolitics and post-globalization, and shifting portfolio strategies are key forces that will shape M&A in 2026
• AI adoption in M&A more than doubled in 2025, and one in three dealmakers are deploying AI systematically or redesigning processes for it

NEW YORK, Jan. 27, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- Global M&A is positioned to continue momentum in 2026 after rising 40% to $4.9 trillion in 2025, the second-highest deal value on record, according to Bain & Company in its annual Global M&A Report 2026, published today.

Bain's survey of 300 M&A executives found that 80% expect to sustain or increase deal activity in 2026. The environment is favorable, with improving macro conditions and a growing backlog of private equity and venture capital assets ready for exit. Leaders across industries also recognize that many traditional business models have reached the limits of their historical growth engines.

"The ingredients are in place for another robust year in M&A following last year's near-record rebound," said Suzanne Kumar, executive vice president of Bain & Company's global M&A and Divestitures 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. M&A will play a pivotal role in this reinvention in 2026."

Forces shaping M&A in 2026

The impact of technology disruption, post-globalization, and shifting profit pools on business became impossible to ignore in 2025. In 2026, M&A will be a critical tool for companies as they shift from simply reacting to these forces to proactively reshaping strategy and portfolios around them, says Bain.

Technology disruption, including from advancements in AI, robotics, and quantum, will have profound implications for dealmaking this year as well. Almost half of all deals in the technology industry already have an AI angle, a trend that will accelerate as the industry's players pursue assets for AI talent and technology. Among non-technology firms, deals will flourish among companies seeking to build out technology solutions.

Geopolitics and post-globalization will continue to drive M&A strategy in 2026 and beyond, particularly after tariff shocks in 2025 drove a deeper understanding of how fragmentation will reshape flows of goods, capital, IP, and labor. Companies will make bolder moves to double down on some parts of their global footprint and minimize exposure to less favorable parts. M&A and divestitures will be crucial to rapidly execute that realignment.

Firms across sectors will also increasingly turn to M&A, including divestitures and spins, as industry evolution pressures portfolio strategy. More than half of companies in Bain's survey are prepping assets for sale within the next few years, driven by a desire to gain focus, free up cash, and capitalize on higher valuations in today's market.

AI in M&A

Bain's survey found that 45% of executives used AI tools in M&A in 2025, more than double the prior year. About one-third of dealmakers are systematically using AI in M&A or are redesigning processes for it. More than half expect AI to significantly impact how deals are done.

Bain finds that leading companies are using AI in five ways to extract more value from M&A: dynamic pipelines, enhanced accuracy in outside-in intelligence, faster path to greater synergies, minimizing integration prep work, and earlier and deeper stakeholder insights.

"AI is quickly becoming indispensable to M&A," added Kumar. "Early adopters are gaining a concrete advantage when it comes to dealmaking. Leading companies are now using AI to create value across the deal cycle – including later stages like transaction execution, integration, and learning."

The capital constraint

One significant hurdle for M&A in 2026 is the high demand for capital. Despite robust dealmaking activity in 2025, the proportion of capital allocated to M&A hit a 30-year low. Recently, companies have increased reinvestment through capex and R&D. As competing demands for capital raise the bar for deals, disciplined reinvention and value creation are essential, says Bain.

M&A agenda for 2026

Against this backdrop, Bain identifies five pivotal strategies for M&A strategy in 2026:

• Ground M&A in the new strategic context. Executives must pressure test whether M&A pathways and specific deals will help the company better compete in the most attractive markets, build capabilities more quickly, or even exit when they no longer are the best owner.
• Make big bets pay off. Companies that grew much larger amid the wave of 2025 megadeals need to ensure value creation. Winning companies will use an integration thesis to set the appropriate order of operations—namely, where to stabilize and integrate, and where and when to transform—and be prepared to make difficult choices on what to tackle first.
• Take a full potential view in due diligence. As capital is constrained and the bar for M&A rises, diligence is no longer just about validating a deal; it's also about confirming that M&A is the best use of capital. A rigorous, thesis-led approach to diligence is the best way for infrequent acquirers to bend the experience curve and compete with more seasoned buyers.
• Build an M&A capability for the next chapter. Companies that invest now in end-to-end M&A capabilities will be better positioned to compete for assets, build conviction in value creation, and deliver synergies more quickly.
• Refresh strategic capital allocation. It's critical to maintain a long-term, multiyear view of capital planning with clarity on big strategic investments in timing and size for capex, M&A, and R&D. Dealmakers must regularly refresh that view to stay relevant and clearly articulate the strategic role of M&A in capital allocation to investors.

Industry perspectives

Bain & Company's report explores trends in strategic M&A across 13 industries and 10 regions, including:

• Banking: Banking M&A surged in 2025 to $212 billion in deal value, buoyed by a more favorable regulatory environment, supportive monetary policy, and a more acute need for modernization to support continued growth. The confluence of these trends has reopened the deal environment to strategic growth plays rather than defensive plays. Deals that combine both scale and scope components are key – in 2025, such banking deals saw roughly 30% better gains in valuation than deals that were primarily only scale or scope, according to Bain's analysis.
• Oil and Gas: Oil and gas companies consolidated in record numbers in 2025, aiming to capture scale, cut unit costs, and further integrate value chains to get out ahead of everything from declining oil prices to all-time high demand for natural gas. Deal activity and value creation are increasingly concentrated among a smaller set of players in the industry; over the past 10 years, the top 20 oil and gas acquirers accounted for 53% of deal value.
• Software: Software companies acquired a record number of AI assets in 2025, with nearly half of tech deals involving an AI component, up from one in four deals in 2024. AI-related deal value shot up as well, with companies turning to M&A to bolster product capabilities, access talent pools, and accelerate innovation. Revenue synergies have become an increasingly important part of the equation for software companies.

The full list of industries covered by Bain's report includes: automotive and mobility, banking, building products, consumer products, defense, machinery and equipment, media, medtech, mining, energy and natural resources, pharmaceuticals, software, and telecom.

Bain's report also covers the following markets: Australia, Brazil, Canada, Greater China, the Eurozone, India, Japan, the Middle East, the UK, and the United States.

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SOURCE Bain & Company