M&A deals were at their highest year-to-date in Q3, reaching 14,720, while the average premium jumped significantly from 15.5% to 63.25% over the quarter.
This follows yearly trends, with quarterly deal counts in 2025 to date exceeding their 2024 counterparts.
The largest deal of the quarter was the merger of railway operator Norfolk Southern Corp by Union Pacific Corp, an US$88.4 billion cash-and-stock deal announced on 29 July, followed by Silver Lake Management’s US$53 billion cash acquisition of Electronic Arts.
Unsurprisingly, Paramount Skydance and Netflix boast the biggest pending deals in Q4 so far, as their battle for Warner Bros Discovery heats up. Paramount has proposed a US$103.6 billion all-cash deal, while Netflix is offering a US$98 billion cash-and-stock purchase.
Warner Bros’ seven-day return has subsequently hit 20.02%, its volume ratio up twofold.
S&P 500 — Volume Spikes
Data centres were a focus of the quarter, with Shenzhen Dongyangguang Enterprise Development Co Ltd announcing two deals on 10 September. Both targeting Chinese data centres, the pending deals are a US$4 billion acquisition of WinTriX DC Group from Bain Capital and a US$3.9 billion acquisition from Stack Midco.
In Q4 to date, a further four data centre deals are on the books – two of which have already been completed. Asterion Industrial Partners acquired the Covilha Data Center Campus in a US$139 million cash deal at the end of November, while Phoenix Infrastructure completed a US$1 billion cash acquisition of 10 US data centres in early October.
Last month, Fitch Ratings predicted that US M&A activity would continue to grow in 2026 as regulatory scrutiny eases and banks search for technology and compliance cost offset opportunities. Goldman Sachs noted an expected 15% growth in US M&A activity in 2026, and recognised signs of increased activity both in Europe and globally.
Over the year, 1,434 deals have been completed. A further 1,246 are pending, 322 proposed, and 70 deals recorded have been withdrawn.
