Executive Summary/Highlights

• Global M&A volume was about US$1.1 trillion in the third quarter of 2025, a 13% increase from the second quarter (US$972 billion). On an annualized basis, as of the end of Q3, 2025 M&A volume was outpacing 2024 by 28%, and would exceed US$4 trillion for the year.
• Several mega deals were announced in Q3 2025, including the US$88 billion combination of Union Pacific and Norfolk Southern; Electronic Arts’ US$49 billion acquisition by an investor group composed of Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund, Silver Lake Group and Affinity Partners; Palo Alto Networks’ US$25 billion acquisition of Cyberark Software; and the US$23 billion merger of equals between Anglo American and Teck Resources.
• Technology was again the leading industry sector, accounting for 22% of global M&A volume in the third quarter. In addition to the Electronic Arts and Cyberark transactions, other significant technology deals included AT&T’s US$23 billion acquisition of EchoStar’s spectrum licenses and Thoma Bravo’s US$12 billion acquisition of Dayforce.  Over the last 12 months, technology transactions have totalled US$719 billion, accounting for approximately 19% of M&A volume during that period.
• Three of the quarter’s ten largest deals were cross-border transactions: the Electronic Arts and Teck Resources transactions, along with the US$23 billion acquisition of Netherlands-based JDE Peet’s by United States-based Keurig Dr Pepper.
• Large deals (valued between US$1 billion and US$5 billion) and mega deals (valued above US$5 billion) together accounted for 74% of global M&A volume this quarter, above the 63% average over the last 10 years. There was also a greater number of mega deals than typical – 33 this quarter, compared to an average of 23 per quarter over the last 10 years.
• North American M&A volume in Q3 2025 was US$619 billion, up 34% from Q2 2025 (US$463 billion) and 51% relative to the average over the last 10 quarters (US$410 billion).

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