"Dealmakers are heading into the final weeks of 2025 on a $100 billion cliffhanger. Paramount Skydance Corp.'s hostile bid to snatch Warner Bros. Discovery Inc. from under the nose of Netflix Inc. encapsulates the themes that have shaped a banner year for mergers and acquisitions: renewed desire for transformative tie-ups, massive checks from Wall Street, the flow of Middle East money and US President Donald Trump's role as both disruptor and dealmaker."
""When you look around and you see your peers doing these big deals and taking advantage of the tailwinds, you don't want to be left out," said Maggie Flores, partner at law firm Kirkland & Ellis LLP in New York. "The regulatory environment is in a position that is very conducive to dealmaking and people are taking advantage of it.""
Global M&A activity rose about 40% to roughly $4.5 trillion in 2025, driven by companies pursuing transformative combinations and large-scale transactions. Major deals include Paramount Skydance's hostile bid for Warner Bros. Discovery, Union Pacific's acquisition of Norfolk Southern for over $80 billion including debt, a record leveraged buyout of Electronic Arts, and Anglo American's takeover of Teck Resources. Dealmakers cite abundant Wall Street financing, inflows of Middle Eastern capital, and a friendlier regulatory backdrop, alongside expectations of looming rate cuts. Some advisers warn that exuberance may be unsustainable amid ongoing global trade tensions and market uncertainties.
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