Global M&A deal value on track to reach $4 trillion this year: PwC

Crowds walk through midtown Manhattan on Oct. 16, 2025 in New York City. Spencer Platt | Getty Images The annual global deal value of mergers and acquisitions is on track to reach $4 trillion in 2026, making it the strongest year since 2021, thanks to bigger megadeals fueled by the ongoing AI demand surge, according to a PwC report. M&A transactions above $5 billion have contributed almost half of total global deal value so far this year, PwC said. It expects a 40% year-on-year rise in deal values from megadeals in 2026 if the current pace continues. "2026 is the year M&A supersized," said Brian Levy , global deals industries leader at PwC US, adding that AI is propelling megadeals, redirecting capital and shuffling sector winners and losers. "AI is intensifying the K-shaped M&A market and it is forcing dealmakers to radically rethink how deals get done," Levy added. Hurdles will likely remain for mid-market dealmakers. "Many mid-market dealmakers remain constrained by geopolitical uncertainty, valuation gaps, slowing growth, higher inflation and interest rates, and a private equity exit backlog that remains stubbornly high," PwC said. If global M&A value reaches $4 trillion by the end of 2026, it will have risen at least 13% year-on-year from 2025. That would represent the second-largest annual deal value since 2021, when deals exceeded $5 trillion, according to PwC. …