Global mergers and acquisitions totaled $993 billion in the third quarter of 2026, down 41% from the second quarter and marking the first quarter below $1 trillion since the second quarter of 2025, according to LSEG data. Ten deals worth more than $10 billion were announced, including Banca Monte dei Paschi’s $32 billion bid for Banco BPM and Gold Fields’ $25.7 billion bid for Northern Star Resources, the fewest quarterly megadeals since the fourth quarter of 2024. Higher energy costs and a 10-year U.S. Treasury yield that reached 5.34% pressured valuations, although bankers said strategic demand for scale, markets and technology remained strong. Global M&A rose 28% year to date to $3.9 trillion, the highest level for the period since 2001, despite an 8% decline in deal volume. Asia-Pacific activity rose 8% from the second quarter and 36% from a year earlier to $242 billion, while technology stake purchases represented about one quarter of global M&A. New listings, including SpaceX’s June IPO, provided acquisition currency and helped drive $215 billion in global IPOs excluding SPACs. Investors have become more selective toward AI-related transactions, and some technology IPOs were delayed, but bankers continued to expect robust dealmaking in 2027.