The rise of US megadeals was one of 2025’s defining dealmaking trends. Momentum at the top end of the market grew throughout the year, with the value of megadeals (those valued at over US$5 billion) in the US hitting US$1.5 trillion—the highest annual value for such deals on record. The annual volume of US megadeals also reached its second highest total, with 97 deals changing hands. At the time of writing (March 13), there had been 20 megadeals totaling US$360 billion so far this year.
Megadeals targeting US companies accounted for 29 percent of total global deal value in 2025. These transactions helped push overall US M&A value to US$2.6 trillion last year—the second highest annual deal value, behind only 2021. At the time of writing, the US had seen 2,052 deals worth a total of US$535 billion in 2026.
Five deals totaling more than US$50 billion have been announced since July last year, highlighting market confidence and a strategic motivation to pull the trigger on transactions while conditions remain favorable.
President Donald Trump’s pro-business agenda is certainly a key factor driving the market. Deal activity rose notably after he took office, lifting dealmaking out of three-year lull seen during the pro-regulation administration of President Joe Biden. While the US administration’s tariff announcements shook global trade in the first half of 2025, they do not appear to have impacted the frequency of blockbuster transactions in the latter half.
Blockbuster deals take center stage
The largest announced deals of 2025 included Netflix’s US$82.7 billion bid for Warners Bros Discovery’s (WBD) streaming and studios businesses, which was rejected at the end of February, and Paramount Skydance’s related—and ultimately successful—US$111 billion hostile bid for WBD.
Another megadeal was the US$88.2 billion merger between railroad companies Union Pacific and Norfolk Southern, which has received approval from more than 99 percent of shareholders. The tie-up would create the first coast-to-coast freight rail operator in the US, with an estimated value of US$250 billion. Weaker freight demand and high labor and fuel costs are putting pressure on rail companies to consolidate.
Another record-setting deal announced in 2025 was the sale of gaming giant Electronic Arts (EA) to a consortium of buyers including Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund, Silver Lake and Affinity Partners. The US$56.6 billion deal, which added a 25 percent premium on EA’s market value, marks the second largest gaming deal in history, following Microsoft’s US$69 billion takeover of Activision Blizzard.
Market trends and drivers
Pent-up demand for deals, a favorable regulatory environment and buoyant equity markets are all factors driving the recent burst of US megadeals. Following three consecutive cuts in 2025, a reduction in interest rates is also making financing for deals more attractive.
The Trump administration is widely seen as supportive of transformative deals and appears to be actively encouraging certain big-ticket mergers. A relaxing of antitrust measures is tied to the president’s pro-business ethos, putting megadeals firmly back on dealmakers’ agendas.
In line with this sentiment, the administration is pushing ahead with its antitrust reform agenda. Both the Federal Trade Commission and US Department of Justice (DOJ) are increasingly adopting structural and behavioral remedies to resolve anticompetitive concerns, rather than relying solely on litigation. Under the Biden administration, suing to block a merger was more frequent, and remedies were disfavored.
However, in the wake of Gail Slater’s resignation as head of the DOJ’s Antitrust Division, Omeed Assefi, the acting assistant attorney general for the division, has indicated that he expects robust antitrust enforcement under his watch.
The US banking sector is set to be a key beneficiary of this more deregulated environment, with deal approval times dropping dramatically under the new administration. The average time to complete a deal within the sector has dropped to four months, down from almost seven under Biden. This trend looks set to drive consolidation within the country’s fragmented banking industry.
The technology sector is also strongly positioned to deliver big-ticket transactions in the near future, with AI-driven demand for data center infrastructure reaching an all-time high. The pharmaceutical industry is also experiencing a resurgence in M&A as biotech companies race to restock their pipelines.
Challenges on the horizon
The rise of megadeals creates potential challenges for the wider market. As leading players gain even more scale, small and medium-sized enterprises will need to find new ways to compete, including pursuing their own strategic acquisitions. This shift in market dynamics, however, could make it more difficult for SMEs to become involved in the deal process, ultimately damaging long-term growth prospects.
In addition, larger deals, by their very nature, are more complex and attract greater regulatory scrutiny. The Union Pacific-Norfolk Southern merger, while widely backed by shareholders, is coming under pressure from the US rail regulator. The US Surface Transportation Board ruled the application incomplete, citing missing projections of market share and impacts on competition. While the market under Trump appears to be more supportive of megadeals, this ruling shows how regulators are still scrutinizing deals closely. Ongoing policy debates and global regulatory coordination underscore the importance of proactive antitrust and regulatory risk assessment in megadeal planning.
Outlook
With economic and political tailwinds encouraging big-ticket deals, the rise of megadeals has shown no sign of abating, though the present conflict in the Middle East could give some organizations pause for thought. That said, dealmakers who press ahead are trying their hand at more ambitious transactions as they look to solidify their market position—deals that arguably would not have been possible under the previous administration. With regulators increasingly proposing remedies rather than blocking deals outright, dealmakers will continue to seize their opportunity while conditions remain favorable.
