New Delhi, Jan 28 India’s strategic mergers and acquisitions (M&A) deal value rose 42 per cent (year-on-year) to $113 billion in 2025, a new report showed on Wednesday.
The growth was driven primarily by robust domestic dealmaking, which accounted for 60 per cent of total deal value, alongside a sharp increase in inbound activity, up more than 300 per cent year on year. Foreign investors continued to target financial services and technology assets, according to Bain & Company in its report.
The report notes that India’s M&A activity was supported by stable macroeconomic fundamentals, favourable demographics, and cost competitiveness, contributing to increased domestic consolidation and inbound interest. Outbound deal value also rose 83 per cent (on-year) to $24 billion.
Meanwhile, global M&A is positioned to continue momentum in 2026 after rising 40 per cent to $4.9 trillion in 2025, the second-highest deal value on record, according to Bain & Company.
The survey of 300 M&A executives found that 80 per cent expect to sustain or increase deal activity in 2026. The environment is favourable, with improving macro conditions and a growing backlog of private equity and venture capital assets ready for exit.
Leaders across industries also recognise that many traditional business models have reached the limits of their historical growth engines.
“The ingredients are in place for another robust year in M&A following last year’s near-record rebound,” said Suzanne Kumar, executive vice president of Bain & Company’s global M&A and Divestitures practice.
“Companies urgently need to reinvent themselves to get out ahead of the big forces of technology disruption, a post-globalisation economy, and shifting profit pools. M&A will play a pivotal role in this reinvention in 2026,” Kumar noted.
Banking M&A surged in 2025 to $212 billion in deal value globally, buoyed by a more favourable regulatory environment, supportive monetary policy, and a more acute need for modernisation to support continued growth.
Oil and gas companies consolidated in record numbers in 2025, aiming to capture scale, cut unit costs, and further integrate value chains to get out ahead of everything from declining oil prices to all-time high demand for natural gas.
Software companies acquired a record number of AI assets in 2025, with nearly half of tech deals involving an AI component, up from one in four deals in 2024, said the report.
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