Geopolitics is not a hindrance: the volume of "mega-deals" since the beginning of the year broke a historical record

A record number of "mega-deals" were agreed in the first quarter of 2026 as companies ignored war in the Middle East and a shake-up in the software sector to drive mergers and acquisitions (M&A) to $1.2 trillion globally, the Financial Times (FT) reports, citing LSEG data.

In the past three months, there were a total of 22 deals worth more than $10 billion each, the highest quarterly total ever recorded, surpassing the previous record of 21 deals set in the fourth quarter of 2015. The M&A market recorded its third consecutive quarter with a total deal value of more than $1 trillion, LSEG data indicates.

The processes were particularly active in the U.S., where the volume of transactions in the first three months of 2026 amounted to $629.8 billion. This amount was only slightly short of the $630 billion of the first quarter of 2021 - the most active start to the year in history and the peak of the excitement caused by the pandemic, notes the FT.

Outside the U.S. - European deals also rose 82% last quarter to $307 billion. A landmark deal was the sale of the UK's oldest asset management company, Schroders, to U.S. fund manager Nuveen for £9.9 billion ($12.6 billion). Overall, the number of cross-border mergers increased by 47% last quarter.

March ended with a number of major deals: food giant Unilever sold its food division to US spice maker McCormick, which will create a group with a combined value of almost $66bn.

Biotech corporations Eli Lilly and Biogen have made more than $5 billion in acquisitions in this area, and food distributor Sysco agreed to buy wholesaler Jetro Restaurant Depot for $29 billion.

Other major deals of the quarter included the $33 billion buyout of energy company AES by Global Infrastructure Partners and EQT to take it private; the merger of Devon Energy and Coterra Energy to create a nearly $60 billion shale oil group; and the merger of insurance companies Equitable and Corebridge through a stock swap.

The increase in M&A activity comes despite the U.S.-Israeli military operation in Iran, which has lifted oil prices above $100 a barrel, as well as concerns about the impact of AI on software developers and risks in private lending.

"Activity [in M&A] is extremely high," said Viktor Sapezhnikov, head of the public company M&A practice at DLA Piper. "There is no trace of the risk avoidance mentality that companies showed after 'liberation day'," he added, referring to last April, when US President Donald Trump announced duties on goods from almost every country in the world (quoted by the FT).

"Boards are now putting pressure on management: 'Everyone else around here is expanding, but what are we waiting for?"' - notes Gibson Dunn analyst George Sampal. - And while CEOs are not as optimistic as they used to be, they see that the authorities are still not preventing big mergers and are giving the green light for deals" (quoted in the FT).

However, despite the ongoing boom in the M&A market, there are still significant risks, the newspaper notes: the effects of high gasoline prices due to the conflict in the Middle East have not yet fully affected the global economy, and instability in the private credit markets may make it difficult to finance deals. In addition, the market - a large volume of unsold companies owned by private equity funds, notes the FT. The number of private equity deals fell 12% to a six-year low, although their total value reached $314 billion in the first quarter.

"If the conflict in the Middle East doesn't drag on, 2026 will look promising," adds Citigroup analyst Guillermo Baigual. "However, I'm not sure we will beat the 2025 figures, as the slowdown in a huge sector like IT is hitting hard on the chances of new records," he emphasizes (quoted in the FT).

This article was AI-translated and verified by a human editor