Global M&A Report

The Institute's reading

Each year Bain publishes its read on the deal market, aggregate values and multiples, industry-by-industry chapters, and thematic essays, most recently on how acquirers are using AI across the deal cycle, continuing the research tradition that produced Mastering the Merger and the firm’s long-standing evidence that frequent, disciplined acquirers outperform. The 2026 edition, covering a near-record 2025, is current, and the hub keeps prior years accessible.

The Institute’s reading: for a private-company owner, the report’s value is context rather than instruction: knowing where the cycle sits, what buyers in your industry are paying attention to, and which direction financing conditions are moving. Read the relevant industry chapter and the year’s lead essay; skip the rest. Cycle context should inform timing and preparation, never replace company-specific valuation work, which no market report can do.

Key propositions

• Deal markets are cyclical, and where the cycle sits affects competition, multiples and financing terms.
• The frequent-acquirer advantage persists across Bain’s two decades of study; capability compounds.

In practice

• Sellers can use cycle context to time preparation, which takes years, so the reading starts early.
• Buyers should read their industry chapter annually as cheap reconnaissance on who else is at the table.

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