Global mergers and acquisitions (M&A) surged to a record high in the first half of 2026, driven by a wave of mega-deals worth more than $10 billion, as companies capitalised on a more favourable regulatory environment and readily available financing to pursue transformative acquisitions, according to Reuters, citing LSEG data.
The total value of announced deals reached $2.8 trillion during the first six months of the year, marking a 48% increase from the same period last year and the highest year-to-date total since LSEG began tracking the data in 1980. Despite the sharp rise in deal value, the number of announced transactions fell 9% to around 24,000, the lowest first-half tally in six years, highlighting a market increasingly dominated by large-scale transactions.
