The 2025 M&A Landscape: Recalibrating Expectations

Despite hopes for a surge in deals this year, the rebound has been more uneven than predicted. Here’s what directors should know.

At the start of 2025, corporate leaders prepared for a surge in dealmaking activity. The conditions looked optimal: Private equity firms were sitting on huge sums of dry powder, interest rates were expected to decline, and initial public offering and exit backlogs seemed ready to diminish. Instead, business leaders have encountered an uneven landscape—active in some sectors, nearly paralyzed in others—with plenty of uncertainty still ahead. 

For executives and board members contemplating strategy ...