Bain & Company’s just-released M&A report calls 2025 a pivotal year for dealmakers. Leo Cummings, an Associate at Hunt Scanlon Ventures, takes a closer look at some of the key findings and explores what companies can do to realign their M&A strategy to capitalize on the shifting landscape.
The global mergers and acquisitions landscape is poised for a gradual recovery following three years of subdued deal activity, according to Bain & Company’s newly released Global M&A Report 2025. While persistent macroeconomic headwinds, including high interest rates and regulatory scrutiny, dampened dealmaking last year, the outlook for 2025 suggests renewed optimism.
Bain’s analysis highlights shifting dynamics in M&A, with companies adapting to a new dealmaking environment that prioritizes scale transactions, accelerated synergy realization, and generative AI-driven efficiency.
The total global M&A market saw a 15% increase in deal value year-over-year in 2024, reaching approximately $3.5 trillion. Corporate transactions rose 12%, while financial acquisitions surged by 29%, driven in part by private equity’s return to the deal table. Despite these improvements, according to Bain, deal volume remains significantly lower than pre-pandemic levels.
Slow but Steady Rebound
“Over the past three years, global M&A as a percentage of nominal GDP has lingered at nearly 30-year lows,” the report noted. “Even when considering the cyclicality of the market’s peaks and troughs, the total M&A market in 2024 ended slightly up year over year (13% in value, 9% in volume) for the second-lowest level of value and volume in more than a decade.”
Related: Hunt Scanlon Ventures Forecasts Strong Year Ahead for Recruiting Sector Dealmaking – ExitUp
Key barriers to deal activity included valuation mismatches between buyers and sellers, prolonged regulatory approvals, and high borrowing costs. However, an easing of these constraints in 2025 could accelerate deal flow. [Leo this red underline above … please link it to the 3/5/24 ‘Conviction and Speed’ article]
Scale Deals
One of the most significant shifts in M&A strategy has been the prioritization of scale deals, particularly in industries with high fixed costs such as energy, financial services, telecoms, and retail. According to Bain, scale deals accounted for 59% of the largest strategic transactions last year, marking a distinct reversal from the previous focus on scope M&A.
“21 percent of M&A professionals currently use generative AI, with more than 50 percent expected to adopt it by 2027”
“Instead of the traditional approach of primarily capturing cost synergies in scale deals and revenue synergies in scope deals, companies needed to deliver both to attract dealmakers,” the report noted. “For example, the $35 billion Capital One–Discover merger aimed to deliver revenue synergies with a new customer segment as well as economies of scale with combined payment systems.”
With interest rates remaining elevated, companies are pressured to extract value faster. This has led to increased emphasis on pre-close integration planning to execute on synergies immediately upon deal closure.
Enter Generative AI
A key theme in Bain’s report is the increasing use of generative AI to enhance M&A efficiency. AI is being leveraged across various stages of the deal cycle, including target screening, due diligence, and post-merger integration.
According to Bain’s 2025 M&A Practitioner Survey, 21% of M&A professionals currently use generative AI, with more than 50% expected to adopt it by 2027. AI is being deployed to reduce manual effort, accelerate diligence timelines, and improve synergy estimates.
“Within the next 12 months, we expect early adopters will use generative AI tools to draft integration workplans and transition service agreements (TSAs) in less than 20% of the time that they previously spent on such activities,” Bain reported.
Looking Ahead
Despite ongoing challenges, Bain’s outlook for 2025 is cautiously optimistic, citing potential interest rate cuts, regulatory clarity, and pent-up demand for dealmaking as catalysts for growth.
Related: Winning Through M&A: The Remarkable Habits of Successful Dealmakers – ExitUp
Companies that align their M&A strategy with emerging trends – scale transactions, AI integration, and rapid synergy realization—will be best positioned to capitalize on the evolving deal landscape.
“Strategic dealmakers will look beyond near-term swings in market momentum to find the right deals to be competitive, profitable, and enable sustainable growth,” said Bain. For dealmakers and investors, 2025 may very well mark the beginning of a more dynamic M&A cycle.
Article By
Leo Cummings
Leo Cummings is Editor-in-Chief of ExitUp, the investment blog from Hunt Scanlon Ventures designed for professionals across the human capital M&A sector. Leo serves as an Associate for Hunt Scanlon Ventures, providing robust industry research to support the firm’s investment group.
