Goldman sees M&A rebound
Goldman Sachs forecasts a rebound in global M&A activity by 2026, driven by expected monetary easing and targeted fiscal stimulus — a signal that deal-making could pick up as financing conditions relax. The bank’s view underpins cautious optimism for cross-border investment recovery even as geopolitical risks persist. (sharecafe.com.au)
Goldman’s bankers are modelling a roughly flat-to-up M&A year: the firm is forecasting about $3.8 trillion of pure M&A volume for 2026, a modest advance on last year’s totals according to Goldman executives. (Bloomberg.com ) Tim Ingrassia, Goldman’s co‑chairman of global M&A, has separately outlined a range in which global deal flow moves from an estimated $3.1 trillion this year toward as much as $3.9 trillion by the end of the cycle, highlighting upside in Goldman’s internal scenarios. (Bloomberg.com ) Goldman Sachs Research’s macro team is pencilling in about 50 basis points of U.S. policy easing during 2026 and projects global GDP growth near 2.8–2.9% for the year, assumptions the bank says underpin greater financing availability for larger transactions. (GoldmanSachs.com ) The firm’s 2026 M&A outlook singles out AI-driven strategic deals and a bigger role for private markets, noting “dream deals” and more complex, bespoke financing structures as emergent trends in the pipeline. (GoldmanSachs.com ) Industry data show a deep pool of private capital available to fuel those transactions: PitchBook reported closed-end private market funds held about $4.63 trillion of dry powder at end‑Q2 2025, a source Goldman cites when describing sponsor-driven deal activity. (PitchBook.com ) Goldman enters 2026 with a commanding advisory footprint—reporting roughly $1.48 trillion of announced deals for 2025 and market‑leading league‑table positions—which the bank says gives it visibility into a large backlog of potential transactions even as it flags geopolitical risks such as the Middle East conflict. (EuropeanBusinessMagazine.com ) (Money.USNews.com/Reuters )
