For global M&A, Q3 was one of the best - and worst – in recent history

For dealmakers across the world, the third quarter was one of the best and one of the worst in recent history.

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Megadeals tallied a stunning $1.26 trillion in global mergers and acquisitions during the third quarter -up 40 per cent year over year-making it the second-best third quarter on record by deal value for the three months ended Sept. 30, according to Dealogic data. But a paltry 8,912 deals were signed, down 16 per cent from last year, the worst third-quarter for deal volume in 20 years, data show.

It's a peculiar time for dealmakers, who came into 2025 with lofty predictions of a banner year following US President Donald Trump's election. But Trump's punishing tariffs unleashed on Liberation Day and a continued antitrust crackdown on Big Tech sent markets gyrating in the second quarter, prompting many corporations to delay M&A and IPO plans while the trade negotiations played out.

Pent-up company demand coupled with fresh stock market highs have unleashed a flurry of big deals and IPOs in recent months that have salvaged an otherwise moribund year for the industry. Fewer deals are getting signed, but the average size has surged to $141.4 million during the third quarter, up from $85.5 million during the same time last year, data show.

"As the year has progressed, there's growing comfort that the tariff landscape is going to land in a place that people are able to navigate," Naveen Nataraj, co-head of investment banking, US at Evercore, told Reuters in an interview.