Cross-border operations drove the mergers and acquisitions market in 2025, bringing the year close to the highest number ever recorded in 2021. Overall, deals announced and completed in January through November 25 appeared to be performing well. 34,494 for a total of 4.4 trillion dollars. A clear increase compared to the same period last year, when the number of operations exceeded 38 thousand agreements but with a lower value compared to 2025 of 3.1 trillion, according to Dealogic data. This means that the average size of operations has grown to such an extent that transactions with a value above 2 billion dollars amount to 415 for a total of 2.7 thousand billion dollars, compared to 282 operations calculated in 2024 for a total of 1.5 thousand billion dollars.
Cross-border M&A expenses
Large in size but also cross-border. These are two characteristics of eleven months of extraordinary activity at the international level. Cross-border operations have reached quota 8,088 with a value of 1.16 thousand billion, That compares with 8,894 deals worth $780 billion in the same period last year.
The United States led the increase with over a thousand deals and a value weighting equal to a third of the total, followed by the UK (848), Germany (548), Canada (341) and just behind China with 157 deals.
The driving force of technology
The lion’s share is once again played by the technology sector which far outpaces other sectors 8,700 transactions with a total value of 1.034 trillion dollars. The healthcare sector, although showing activity, could not compete with only 2,845 deals worth a total of 445 billion dollars. The financial sector (2,074 agreements worth 423 billion), utilities and energy (1,442 agreements worth 351 billion) and real estate (887 agreements worth 203 billion) also ranked in the top 5.
However, an absolute record in 2025 was achieved by an agreement in the consumer health sector Kimberly-Clark takes over Kenvue for a number 43.7 billion dollars (51.4 billion if debt is also taken into account), in a historic operation that brought to life a group that combines a series of iconic brands such as Tylenol, Kleenex and Band-Aid plasters in its portfolio. The acquisition of 100% Aligned Data Centers in the artificial intelligence sector by a consortium led by BlackRock also moves on a similar scale in terms of value and includes Global Infrastructure Management, MGX, Microsoft, NVIDIA and X AI, valued at 40 billion dollars. Another pharmaceutical deal will follow Olympus’ operations in 2025, with Exact Sciences Corp. being acquired by Abbott Laboratories for $24.2 billion. Meanwhile among the technology sector, Qnity Electronics, a spin-off of DuPont and listed on Wall Street in a 20.3 billion operation, also stands out, and in the energy sector American Water Works’ 12.5 billion conquest of Essential Utilities stands out.
