Deal Drivers: Americas provides an in-depth review of M&A activity in the first half of 2026 and an outlook for the rest of the year.

A top-heavy market scales new heights

The US M&A powerhouse saw deal activity in the Americas soar in H1 2026, with 7,954 transactions worth an aggregate US$1.95tn. That represents a modest 1.6% uplift in volume year-on-year but a hefty 59.6% surge in total value, extending the market’s long-running concentration.

Realized returns

New PE deal volume fell 2% to 1,970 transactions while aggregate value surged 64% to US$574bn – a record half. That value pop is flattered by the inclusion of OpenAI’s US$122bn VC round in March. Even stripped out, though, the underlying trend of mega-managers having the upper hand continues to hold.

Open round

With US$122bn raised at a US$852bn valuation, OpenAI’s March round is the largest private financing in history. That compute has to run on something. NextEra’s all-stock acquisition of Dominion, announced in May with an enterprise value of US$118.8bn, is the largest energy
deal since Exxon’s 1998 takeover of Mobil and creates the world’s largest regulated electric utility.

Published in association with Datasite. The report is also available on datasite.com.