The deal value of global mergers and acquisitions in the first half of 2026 was $3.16 trillion, the highest first half ever recorded, and a 44 percent jump compared to the same period last year, according to a report by Mergermarket released on July 8.
This uptick was primarily driven by 48 “megadeals” (deals larger than $10 billion)—more than double last year’s period and accounting for $1.32 trillion in value—and six “giga-deals” (deals larger than $50 billion).
At the same time, data showed deal volume in the middle-market—deals between $250 million and $1 billion—only rose 16 percent.
“[This] reflects a growing view that a $1 billion to $3 billion deal takes just as much time as a larger one, so when an opportunity for a big transaction arises, companies see this as the moment to act,” Ivan Farman, co-head of global mergers and acquisitions at Bank of America, said.
AI-related acquisitions also made up a sizable chunk of these enormous deals, such as SpaceX’s $60 billion acquisition of AI coding startup Cursor last month.
The United States was the clear leader in merger and acquisition activity, doing $1.69 trillion worth of deals, which accounted for more than every other country combined. This was a 72 percent year-over-year increase.
“While external tensions and trade frictions are adding complexity to dealmaking, CEOs continue to view [mergers and acquisitions] as a core driver of transformation in a time of accelerating AI adoption,” Mitch Berlin, vice chair of EY Americas, said in a company forecast last month.
The forecast said a mergers and acquisitions jump would be led by strategic acquisitions—companies buying other companies, or specific divisions within them, to plug into their own operations—which EY Americas projected to have an 11 percent increase in volume throughout 2026.
In contrast, it predicted the deal volume of private equity mergers and acquisitions—private equity firms buying companies, actively managing them for a period, and later selling them for a profit—to stay flat.
“Private equity investors are being much more careful about where they put their money right now,” Berlin said.
Mergermarket data showed Europe’s mergers and acquisitions activity also performed strongly; the United Kingdom jumped to $255 billion in deal value for the first half of the year, almost 200 percent higher than last year’s period.
France jumped 87 percent to $70 billion and Italy jumped 155 percent to $97 billion. Meanwhile, the DACH region—Germany, Austria, and Switzerland—recorded $158 billion in deal value, a 124 percent increase.
No region’s mergers and acquisitions activity suffered more than East Asia, as China’s deal value fell 46 percent to $155 billion and Japan’s fell 41 percent to $85 billion.
