Confidence in a changing market: 2025 dealmaking themes and 2026 market opportunities
Market conditions in 2025 were characterised by policy uncertainty and tariff turbulence, prompting cautious cross-border execution, while geopolitical tensions drove venture capital to defence tech and renewed focus on energy security and healthcare supply chain resilience.
Financing conditions improved selectively, with traditional lending easing and private credit becoming mainstream, particularly for platform consolidation and growth-stage technology companies.
Capital markets showed meaningful recovery, with IPO windows reopening and cross-border listings reaching two-decade highs, led by technology companies with AI-driven growth narratives.
International dealmaking rebounded strongly after a cautious first quarter. Global M&A deal values increased while volumes decreased, indicating a shift towards larger transactions, with US buyers remaining the largest inbound investors into Europe and the UK.
AI reshaped capital allocation across sectors, with technology M&A experiencing double-digit deal value growth and venture capital mega-rounds for AI-related companies absorbing nearly half of global venture funding by Q3.
The flight to quality intensified. Dealmakers focused on thematic investing including technological disruption, climate change and supply chain resilience, with healthcare and life sciences momentum strengthening and energy transition platform consolidation surging.
Elevated uncertainty became structural rather than cyclical, requiring continuous scenario planning and flexible structures. Talent acquisition became a transaction imperative, with retention packages and employment-linked consideration becoming standard, particularly for AI, defence tech, cybersecurity and biotech expertise.
These market dynamics were reflected in Osborne Clarke's transactional activity in 2025.
At Osborne Clarke, we saw 956 deals undertaken by our international corporate practice, which was a significant increase on the previous year. Of these, 277 were cross-border transactions, and 61 of those deals featured more than three jurisdictions. These results demonstrate the growth of our practice across the board internationally, and Osborne Clarke's success in 2025 in advising increasingly on deals involving multiple jurisdictions.
deals undertaken by our international corporate practice
Tech, Media and Comms
of total deals
cross-border
transactions
Energy and Energy Transition
of total deals
transactions with
3+ jurisdictions
Life Sciences and Healthcare
of total deals
Key themes in dealmaking for 2026
Cross-border transactions, including deals involving US investors and acquirers, and transactions in the Energy and Energy Transition, Life Sciences and Healthcare, and Tech, Media and Comms (TMC) sectors were all areas of growth in 2025, and we expect this trend to continue strongly in 2026. Accordingly, this report examines these five key areas that shaped dealmaking in 2025 and will continue to influence transaction activity in 2026.
We predict the following will be the key themes to monitor in 2026:
- In TMC, continued interest in AI infrastructure is expected, but with potential market corrections creating acquisition opportunities. Clearer regulatory frameworks for AI and cybersecurity will be crucial for structuring technology transactions.
- In Life Sciences and Healthcare, AI will continue driving dealmaking with increased focus on data provenance, bias validation and regulatory compliance. Exit pressures will drive sponsor-to-sponsor trades, corporate carve-outs, and platform roll-ups across doctor practices, pharmaceutical services, and technology-enabled care.
- In Energy and Energy Transition, convergence between energy, technology and infrastructure will accelerate, with automakers, tech firms and data centre operators investing directly in renewable energy and battery storage. Investment will shift towards enabling technologies like battery storage, smart grids and AI-driven energy management systems.
Cross-border deals will face increasingly complex regulatory requirements across multiple jurisdictions, requiring early planning and coordinated execution. Companies will continue prioritising near-shoring, onshoring, and dual-sourcing strategies to build supply chain resilience and reduce geopolitical trade risk.
Overall, the outlook for dealmaking in 2026 is positive and robust growth is expected to continue through the next 12 months and beyond.
Speak to one of our experts.
Our experts
Co-head International Corporate Group, Partner, UK
Knowledge Lawyer Director, UK
Co-head International Corporate Group, Partner, Germany
Head of Business Transactions Knowledge, UK
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Healthcare and life sciences deal activity to accelerate across global markets in 2026
Innovation and renewables will underpin energy transition M&A and investments in 2026
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