S&P Global Market Intelligence released an analysis examining the key strategic trends and opportunities that are expected to drive the M&A narrative through 2025. The newly published report is titled M&A Outlook: Bright spots, shadows on dealmaking horizon.

M&A announcements have showed signs of increasing in 2024 but remain below pre-pandemic levels and are far off 2021’s record levels. Achieving new peaks will take time, and major M&A players can set the recovery’s pace.

Private equity firms have been more active and should continue to deploy capital, especially in a lower rate environment. Consolidation in the oil and gas sector is set to resume after a brief pause. Major technology players have helped fuel past M&A booms, but they have remained largely sidelined.

“There is still plenty of room for growth in the M&A market,” Joe Mantone, one the of the authors of the S&P Global Market Intelligence report, said. “Lower interest rates and a less restrictive regulatory environment should make the dealmaking environment more conducive.”

Key highlights from the report include:

• Private equity has increasingly inked larger deals. This marks a shift after two years of slowing M&A and focusing on smaller transactions, such as corporate carve-outs.
• Antitrust concerns have done little to derail the blockbuster oil and gas mergers. Large deals have pushed North American oil and gas M&A transactions to record levels and regulators have yet to stop a $1 billion-plus transaction that has been announced since late 2023.
• Traditional strategic acquirers have been less active in the technology space and their participation is needed in order for the sector to produce a meaningful M&A recovery. However, the revenue outlook has improved for the industry, and private equity buyout firms are pursuing more deals.