Large M&A fizzles worldwide in February

There were no M&A deals with transaction values of more than $10 billion announced worldwide in February.

With one month left in the first quarter, four M&A deals valued at more than $10 billion have been announced so far in 2025, all in January. The last month with no $10 billion M&A deals globally was July 2024, according to S&P Global Market Intelligence data. Large global deal counts in the first two months of 2025 trailed January and February 2024 by four deals.

One deal worth more than $10 billion closed in February. Construction material company Quikrete Holdings Inc. closed its purchase of Summit Materials Inc. on Feb. 10, with a transaction value of $11.49 billion, Market Intelligence data shows.

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Total M&A announcement volumes in North America dropped in February to $130 billion, their lowest point since February 2023 and down from $180 billion in January, Bank of America credit analysts Yuri Seliger and Jean-Tiago Hamm wrote in a March 7 report.

Industry observers expect M&A in 2025 to be much higher than what transpired over the first two months of the year, Seliger said in an interview. Loosened regulation from the Trump administration and general growth after two years of below-average M&A transaction volumes were supposed to catalyze an M&A boom, but that has not materialized, he said.

"Volatility is not good for M&A volumes," Seliger said. "But that volatility only started towards the end of the month, so it's a bit unclear why exactly volumes were lower in February. But my best guess is that they were lower because of uncertainty related to tariffs, and maybe the fiscal policy in the US."

North American deals accounted for 23 of the 30 large global M&A deals announced in 2024, according to Market Intelligence data.

It is too early to extrapolate large-scale conclusions from February's lack of transactions, Seliger said.

"Right now, people are talking about recession risks," Seliger said. "Obviously that was not really true for most of February, but if we start discussing recession risks, I think that should not be good for M&A volumes. It's more difficult to value companies when there's so much uncertainty."