We began 2025 feeling cautiously optimistic about an uptick in M&A over the course of the year but also warned of some wild cards that could spoil the party.

Those cards turned out to be a lot wilder than even we had imagined: financial markets have been bouncing up and down like a yo-yo on the daily news flow out of Washington DC, where talk of tariffs has been louder—and action on deregulation has been slower—than expected.

Meanwhile, regional conflicts are heating up and long-term interest rates in the US and Europe have defied expectations. 

For all the surprises, deals are getting done—and dealmakers are finding ways to navigate through the uncertainties that prevail in today’s M&A market. M&A volumes globally continue to decline: they dropped by 9% in the first half of 2025 compared with the first half of 2024, while deal values are up 15%.

We continue to see transactions in companies with a local focus within national borders, as well as in service companies or others less susceptible to tariffs. Great companies with strong cash flow and healthy prospects in any territory or sector are still being bought and sold.

However, the market has not been kind to the many companies falling outside these parameters. In the US, for example, a PwC Pulse Survey from May 2025 showed that, in response to the tariff uncertainty, 30% of companies had paused or revisited deals. We expect dealmakers to feel the continued fallout over the coming months.

M&A isn’t going away, though. It’s a fundamental part of corporate culture and the lifeblood of the private equity (PE) world. Indeed, that same PwC Pulse Survey shows that 51% of US companies are still pursuing deals—a clear sign that transformation and business model reinvention remain a top priority.

It’s a reflection of the new era we have entered, one in which artificial intelligence (AI) and new competitive dynamics are reshaping the corporate landscape, with AI a catalyst for industry disruption and change. As this new generation of technologies takes hold, it’s likely to spark more deal activity. 

Read the full story here

Brian Levy - Global Deals Industries Leader, PwC US