Wall Street eyes another blockbuster year of mega-deals after record

Wall Street eyes another blockbuster year of mega-deals after record

Mega-deals roared again in 2025, with a record 68 transactions topping $10 billion as Wall Street dealmakers piled into blockbuster mergers, pushing global M&A quantity to its largest year since the pandemic and signaling renewed confidence in company boardrooms.

The quantity of mega-deals announced globally this year marks the most on record going again to 1980, driving the common deal dimension to just about $227 million as corporations rushed to lock up belongings amid a friendlier regulatory local weather and fading fears over President Trump’s tariff agenda.

“Large deals are driving the market. And when you see big deals, it’s a sign of CEO and boardroom confidence,” Ivan Farman, global co-head of M&A at Bank of America, told The Wall Street Journal.

Megadeals roared again in 2025, with a record 68 transactions topping $10 billion as Wall Street dealmakers piled into blockbuster mergers. Getty Images

Momentum is anticipated to hold into 2026 across industries, according to Farman.

Despite worries about Trump’s tariff regime, bankers and legal professionals said dealmaking barely slowed even over Thanksgiving, a interval that in prior years was sometimes off-limits for major negotiations.

In media, Netflix struck a $72 billion deal to accumulate Warner Bros. Discovery’s studios and HBO Max streaming service, a transfer that instantly triggered a $77.9 billion hostile takeover bid from Paramount Skydance for the whole company.

WBD shareholders are anticipated to reject Paramount’s hostile bid.

In July, Union Pacific agreed to purchase Norfolk Southern for $72 billion in a landmark merger aimed toward making a US transcontinental railroad, a deal that has drawn antitrust scrutiny.

A pair of months later, video game maker Electronic Arts said it could go non-public in a $55 billion deal, underscoring the rising position of non-public capital in powering this year’s largest transactions.

Crypto is also rising as a new frontier for dealmakers, with legal professionals and bankers anticipating a pickup in acquisitions involving digital-asset companies next year. REUTERS

In November, Huggies diapers proprietor Kimberly-Clark agreed to purchase Tylenol maker Kenvue for $40 billion, including another blockbuster to this year’s checklist of mega-deals.

Companies are racing to maneuver while the window is open, with legal professionals saying boards worry lacking out in the event that they hesitate as belongings come to market amid surging demand.

“For the first time in several years, there’s a growing perception that the failure to act quickly risks losing the asset,” Jonathan Davis, a company associate at Kirkland & Ellis, told The Journal, though he added he’s “super bullish, but cautiously so.”

In media, Netflix struck a $72 billion deal to accumulate Warner Bros. Discovery’s studios and HBO Max streaming service. REUTERS

Lawyers at Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz said a big share of this year’s quantity was pushed by private-equity companies leaping again into large offers, often teaming up with rivals to pursue multibillion-dollar targets.

They flagged areas to look at next year including more company spinoffs, a pickup in crypto-related acquisitions and a rising move of capital from sovereign-wealth funds — notably from the Middle East — into large transactions.

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