DealLawyers.com Blog

Ropes & Gray recently published the latest edition of its monthly “Dealmakers Digest,” which covers the top 10 M&A-related developments during June 2026. While quarterly deal volume broke records, the rising tide didn’t lift all boats.  In fact, this excerpt suggests that last month was in many respects “the best of times” for mega-deals & strategics, and “the worst of times” for PE sponsors:

– Q2 2026 recorded highest deal value in recent history: With $1.7 trillion in global deal value, Q2 marked the highest quarterly value this century. Monthly deal value also reached a five-year high.

– Mega-deals mask declining deal activity: While the number of $10 billion-plus deals nearly doubled and deal values boomed year-over-year in 1H 2026, deal counts fell sharply–quarterly global count and outbound count hit decade lows.

– The widening strategic-sponsor gap:  Since Q4 2025, strategic deal value has risen precipitously even as financial deal value has fallen. The gap widened significantly in Q2 2026, with strategic activity increasing 31% quarter-over-quarter and sponsor deal value declining 9%.

Strategic buyer deal value rose by 11% in June over the prior month to more than $560 billion, and year-over-year strategic value is up 84%.  In contrast, financial buyer deal value shrunk 8% from May to June to fall below $100 billion. The report says that June represents the third consecutive month that sponsor activity has declined, although year-over-year sponsor deal value is up 18%.

– John Jenkins