Best of LinkedIn: M&A Insights CW 45/ 46

Global dealmakers reported a rebound in activity, with 2025 M&A value rising and expectations that 2026 volumes and megadeals will climb further

Healthcare recorded a 550 percent surge in deal value in H1 2025, with investors prioritizing efficiency, asset productivity and cash conversion over pure growth

European banking and telecoms are using strategic M&A to navigate overcapitalisation, regulatory pressure and saturated markets

Renewables transactions continue shifting toward asset level acquisitions for cleaner risk and return profiles

Food and beverage consolidation is driven by scale, sustainability and health focused consumer expectations, shifting value creation to how products are made and delivered

Wealth management players favour organic growth even as consolidation rises, with minority deals enabling RIAs to fund succession and expansion without losing control

Dealmakers emphasised that integration is where value is created, making early post merger planning and synergy roadmaps essential

Culture and leadership quality were identified as decisive, with cultural misalignment and poor communication frequently destroying value

Boards were encouraged to embed digital transformation and technology priorities directly into deal strategy and pre closing planning

Clear priorities, realistic pacing and operational expertise in areas such as procurement are required to avoid chaotic integrations and protect promised synergies

Inflation and macro volatility were flagged as hidden integration risks, prompting quarterly recalibration of synergy assumptions and operating plans

Many companies are not deal ready, with messy financials, fragmented data, shifting KPIs and disorganised contracts acting as buyer red flags

The wording of the letter of intent is critical, since vague or founder friendly language can quietly shift leverage to the buyer

Founders were reminded to build sellable companies by reducing key person dependency and ensuring transparent, standalone operations

New data challenges the big exit fantasy in tech, showing most deals clear well below the half billion mark

Churn metrics, customer concentration and working capital mechanics are now central to risk assessment, with weaknesses capable of stalling or repricing a deal late in the process

Strategic acquirers increasingly prioritise strategic fit over headline price, using tailored incentives and deal structures to rescue transactions that were close to collapse

Valuation is framed as both science and psychology, blending multiple approaches and football field comparisons instead of relying on a single model

Representations and warranties insurance and IP backed financing are becoming key tools for risk transfer and capital unlocking

Rollover equity structures require careful tax planning to avoid unintended gains

Carve outs gained prominence, with success depending on flexibility, meticulous planning and tight governance to turn separation complexity into value creation

Corporate M&A teams face leaner staffing and year end pressure, requiring sharper focus on high conviction opportunities and faster negotiation processes

AI and M&A are treated as distinct but converging opportunity sets, with profitable vertical AI enterprises identified as attractive acquisition targets

European AI related transactions now represent a sizable share of IT services M&A, supported by advisors leading multibillion deals in AI infrastructure and platforms

Digital tools and strategy to execution platforms help bring order to chaotic integrations by aligning plans, structures and people around a single playbook

Commentary links the next leg of deal activity to AI driven acquisitions and better valuation alignment, suggesting disciplined buyers will keep deploying capital despite macro uncertainty

Integration focused firms and specialist consultancies are positioning themselves as partners for operating model design, cultural leadership and synergy delivery

Legal and advisory rankings spotlight firms leading in AI heavy and large cap transactions, signalling the rise of specialised expert lanes

WorkTech and HRTech studies show record transaction levels, while industrial tech and automation research point to sustained interest driven by digitalisation, sustainability and reshoring

Fresh studies on valuation accuracy, carve outs and cross border dynamics equip deal teams with data driven perspectives, making learning loops and specialised insight part of the core M&A toolkit