Based on share price performance, dealmakers outclassed companies not involved in M&A activities by an impressive +11pp (percentage points) for deals valued over $100 million completed during the last three months, reveals WTW’s Quarterly Deal Performance Monitor (QDPM)1. This is the strongest quarterly performance since the first three months of 2021.
The value of completed deals soared in the third quarter of 2025 to $371 billion, exceeding the combined value of the first two quarters of 2025 ($334 billion). Run in partnership with the M&A Research Centre at Bayes Business School, the data shows this is the best third quarter by deal value since 2015. This surge has been driven by larger-valued transactions and a sharp pick-up in North America, where deals tallied $246 billion, compared to $119 billion in the third quarter of 2024.
Eight mega deals (valued over $10 billion) closed in the last three months. This is the highest quarterly figure since the final three months of 2018. Large deals (valued over $1bn) closed in the third quarter of 2025 reached 52, up from 43 in the third quarter of 2024. In total, 191 deals valued over $100 million were completed worldwide during the third quarter of 2025. This compares to 169 transactions closed in the same period last year.
Jana Mercereau, Head of Europe M&A Consulting, WTW, said: “After a turbulent start to the year, defined by aggressive tariff policies and geopolitical tensions, dealmakers have learned to normalise and move through uncertainty. This fundamental shift in how buyers perceive risk - combined with pent-up demand, stock market highs and steady interest rates - has led to a surge in M&A activity that gives dealmakers hope of a strong finish to 2025.”
Following ten consecutive negative quarters, North American dealmakers achieved a dramatically improved performance of +9.8pp above their regional index with 92 deals in the third quarter of 2025.
The results of dealmakers in other regions are even more striking. Acquirers from Asia- Pacific continued their strong form by outperforming their regional index by +17.8pp, with 46 deals completed in the last three months, compared to just 18 in the third quarter of 2024. European buyers also outperformed their regional index by +11.6pp, with 47 deals completed in the third quarter of 2025, up from the 42 deals completed in the same period last year. UK mirrored the wider European trend with an equally robust performance.
All industries performed strongly during the third quarter of this year, with the exception of Consumer Staples (-18.2pp), Energy and Power (-2.7pp) and Healthcare (-3.5pp). The data also reveals that the performance of M&A transactions for the first nine months of this year was +4.1pp, putting 2025 on track to be the best performing year since the dealmaking boom that followed the pandemic slowdown four years ago.
Mercereau said: “The recent surge in M&A activity suggests a recalibration in the market, supported by lower financing costs and greater confidence in growth prospects. At the same time, tariff volatility, geopolitical rifts and regulatory hurdles still remain part of the equation for the months ahead. With more companies going for scale, integration planning that starts early in the due diligence phase may prove to be the toughest test for buyers looking to lock in gains and drive growth.”
1 The M&A research tracks the number of completed deals over $100m and the share price performance of the acquiring company against the MSCI World Index, which is used as default, unless stated otherwise.
|
