Global M&A Dealmakers Expect Active 2025: Sentiment Report

SS&C survey of 400+ global M&A professionals signals bullish market sentiment

WINDSOR, Conn., Jan. 23, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- SS&C Technologies Holdings, Inc. (Nasdaq: SSNC) today announced the publication of the SS&C Intralinks 2025 Global M&A Dealmakers Sentiment Report. In association with Reuters, SS&C Intralinks surveyed 419 global M&A dealmakers from private equity firms, corporates advisory firms and investment banks to see where the market is heading.

"With Wall Street banks reporting stronger earnings and the U.S. Federal Reserve continuing to ease interest rates, respondents we surveyed anticipate a surge in 2025 deal volume," said Ken Bisconti, co-head of SS&C Intralinks. "A significant majority of dealmakers expect increases in activity and deal size, even as concerns about inflation, the regulatory environment and valuations persist. Currently, financial institutions, corporates and private equity firms are racing to transform their technology stacks, focusing on artificial intelligence (AI) and cybersecurity."

Key findings from the report include:

• 87% of the respondents expect M&A and financing activity to grow in 2025, with PE firms slightly more bullish on prospects than corporates.
• Deals are expected to be larger. Almost half of the PE respondents expect to work on transformative (USD10 billion+) deals this year.
• Geographical expansion and digital drivers are expected to be the primary drivers of dealmaking activity. Dealmakers expect fewer opportunities in restructuring distressed businesses.
• Financial services, technology, media and telecom sectors are generating the most interest, backed by strong 2024 performance and long-term prospects.

 The report also highlights areas of focus for M&A dealmakers:

• More than half of respondents expect the use of AI tools to increase significantly. Generative AI is expected to be one of the biggest disruptors.
• Data privacy and security remain the top concerns for organizations working with AI, followed closely by reliability.
• Dealmakers continue to worry about cybersecurity, with more than 80% concerned about cyberattacks evolving nature. Nearly 75% expect cybersecurity issues to increase, so secure environments such as virtual data rooms (VDRs) will become even more important to deal success.
• More than a third of dealmakers are prioritizing investments in digitalization to transform business processes.

Click here to read the full report.

SS&C Intralinks is a pioneer of the virtual data room, delivering software-enabled services across the entire deal lifecycle, including deal marketing, deal prep, due diligence, insights and post-merger integration. Intralinks technology enables and secures the flow of information by facilitating M&A, capital raising and investor reporting. SS&C Intralinks has executed more than USD 35 trillion worth of financial transactions on its platform.

About SS&C Technologies

SS&C is a global provider of services and software for the financial services and healthcare industries. Founded in 1986, SS&C is headquartered in Windsor, Connecticut, and has offices around the world. Some 20,000 financial services and healthcare organizations, from the world's largest companies to small and mid-market firms, rely on SS&C for expertise, scale and technology.

Additional information about
SS&C (Nasdaq: SSNC) is available at www.ssctech.com.

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SOURCE SS&C