Best of LinkedIn: M&A Insights CW 29/ 30

Global M&A activity is running at its strongest pace since the early 2000s, yet the market is not moving as one. Technology is pulling in the most capital while its own dealmakers grow more cautious, private equity lags corporate strategics, and AI is reshaping everything from where deals get done to how due diligence is scoped. Underneath the headline numbers, the same lesson keeps resurfacing across very different deals: preparation and cultural execution, not valuation or strategy, are what separate value created from value destroyed.

Date

July 28, 2026

M&A Insights

Thomas Allgeyer

Methodology: Every two weeks we collect most relevant posts on LinkedIn for selected topics and create an overall summary only based on these posts. If you´re interested in the single posts behind, you can find them here: https://linktr.ee/thomasallgeyer. Have a great read!

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Deal Volume and Market Trends

Global M&A value hit $2.77 trillion in H1 2026, up 48 percent year on year and the strongest first half since 2002
Europe now captures 25 percent of global M&A targets by volume, up from 21 percent a year earlier
BCG's Mid-2026 M&A Insights puts year on year deal value growth at 28 percent, with megadeal activity at its highest first half level since 2021
Technology generated more deal value than any sector in H1 2026 yet scored lowest on BCG's M&A Sentiment Index
Corporate strategics are lifting deal volume with confidence while private equity stays constrained by valuation gaps and aging portfolios, per Solomon Partners
KPMG's 2026 Global M&A Outlook finds portfolio optimization and carve outs, not deal volume alone, now drive value creation
Bain research shows M&A success rates have flipped in 20 years, from two thirds of deals failing to roughly 70 percent now succeeding

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AI's Growing Footprint in Dealmaking

AI related M&A activity in cybersecurity is up 47 percent year on year
Palo Alto Networks completed its $24.5 billion acquisition of CyberArk, signaling AI driven consolidation around identity and access
Energy M&A deal value grew to nearly $217 billion in Q2, a direct result of AI's power requirements, per KPMG partner Stephen Binz
PwC's 2026 Global AI Jobs Barometer shows the M&A analyst role is being seniorised, not automated away
Entry level roles demanding senior level skills have grown 35 percent since 2019, per PwC
Companies most exposed to AI report 40 percent higher productivity growth, per PwC
Demand for human centric skills like judgment and empathy is rising two and a half times faster in AI exposed roles
Shrinking deal teams under AI adoption are concentrating execution risk that most deal models book as a synergy, not a cost
AI has collapsed the gap between an unpatched vulnerability and an active exploit, pulling cybersecurity into pre-signing due diligence

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Preparation and Deal Readiness

Preparation, not timing or boldness, is the defining source of competitive advantage among dealmakers, per BCG
The SBA's July 4 change doubles combined 7(a) and 504 loan caps to $10 million, closing the gap between SBA sized deals and lower middle market PE
HLB International's 2026 outlook finds the most successful transactions start building operational strength long before going to market
Founder credibility is emerging as its own due diligence discipline, distinct from financial performance
Financing questions, not valuation disagreements, are increasingly where company acquisitions stall once banks get involved
A five year exit horizon needs one to three years of post close involvement, nine to twelve months of process, and twelve to twenty four months of prep beforehand

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Notable Deals of the Period

Uber is acquiring Delivery Hero for 41.50 euros per share, valuing the company at roughly 12.7 billion euros
Delivery Hero is simultaneously selling its operations in 14 markets to SSW Partners to clear antitrust hurdles
ABB is acquiring UK valve maker Rotork for $5.5 billion, the largest acquisition in ABB's history
OCS is paying £3.1 billion for Mitie, the UK's largest facilities management company
Mitie itself made more than 25 acquisitions since 2012, including a £366 million purchase of Marlowe
Avere Therapeutics is reverse merging into NextCure with $320 million in new financing co led by Fairmount Funds Management and Hansoh Bio
This is the third deal this year pairing a Chinese discovered drug asset with a US reverse merger and a large concurrent financing round
Invest AG and PE Venture are acquiring stakes in TGA platform Vaventus AG, recently filed with Germany's Bundeskartellamt
Knoll Maschinenbau, with around 1,200 employees, acquired its long standing Swedish partner Mercatus Engineering, a company of just under 30 employees
Madison Branson Capital merged with Seaview Consulting, strengthening its corporate advisory and M&A offering
HI Marketing merged with Opus 4 Marketing, broadening the marketing services available to existing clients

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Thanks to Anne-Sophie d'Andlau, Dr. Jens Kengelbach, Dominik Degen, Marc S. Cooper, Reuben George Paul, Yannik Gruner, Ella Clark, Michael Hoyt, Ömer F. Güven, Simone Vascotto, Shari Lisa Piré, Daniel Friedman, David Bruder, John Waybright, Anirvan Sen, Kai Hesselmann, Scott Mashuda, Martin McMahon, Cabot Earle, Anchal Agrawal, Laura Hardin, Dharmendra SINGH, Professor Vlatka Ariaana Hlupic, Jens Hohnwald, Joe Lewin, Ryan Murr, Philip Herrmann, Jan Steinbächer, Michael Go, and Hayley Irons for the insights behind this edition. Find the full list of posts and voices: