Dealcast: The M&A Podcast

In the last couple of years there has been an increase in megacap deals with global exposure. However, despite the growing number of large deals, they have longer timelines and geopolitical factors that make these transactions more complex.
One example of the increased complexity is the jump in foreign investment reviews on megadeals. During 2005-2020, only 11% of megadeals were subject to foreign investment reviews, but from 2021 to 1H26, 40% of megadeals were subject to foreign investment reviews.
Davidson Kempner’s Suzy Gibbons, partner and head of research, and Michael Chiaramonte, partner and deputy head of merger arbitrage, join Mergermarket’s global regulatory editor, Reuben Miller, to discuss their new white paper, Merger Arbitrage: Opportunity in Regulatory Complexity.
The conversation delves into questions like how does complexity create opportunities for investors, how has the change in US administration altered deal activity, how do differing national priorities and security measures play into dealmaking, and why there is “complexity premium"?

While sponsor-related deal volume from the exit perspective is at EUR 132bn so far this year, nearly double the volume in the first half of 2025, deal counts are only up 12%.
Deal momentum is picking up, but it still can be difficult to get a deal over the line in the current environment, according to Kate Gribbon, Investec’s head of financial sponsor coverage.
The effects of SaaSpocalypse or SaaSmageddon are still lingering and dealmakers need to have a strong offensive and defensive strategy when it comes to AI. Diligence also needs to come in at an increasingly early stage in the auction process, according to Gribbon, and relationship-building and trust are core to completing transactions.
In this episode of Dealcast, Gribbon joins John West, Mergermarket’s global commentary editor, to discuss her recent report: The New Rules of Private Equity M&A. The two discuss the three pillars of getting a deal done: proof, process, and price.
The episode delves into how to curate the buyer pool early-on, how to weigh the benefits of getting DPI for LPs quickly or holding onto an asset for the right reasons, and why it’s not realistic to wait for “perfect” market conditions.

“This level of uncertainty has allowed boardrooms to rise above what is happening in the market,” Global Chair of Investment Banking at JPMorgan Anu Aiyengar says.
Rather than being paralysed by geopolitical turmoil, executives have acknowledged they are playing on a constantly changing pitch and doubled down on long-term thinking to simplify their corporate footprints while building growth and resilience, Aiyengar says.
That’s writ large in a record-breaking first half for global M&A, with volume of USD 3.16tn (up 44% year-on-year) – and 78% of that haul involving strategic acquirors.
In this episode of Dealcast, Aiyengar joins John West, Mergermarket’s Global Commentary Editor, to unpack the deal dynamics behind 1H26’s astonishing run and pitching forward to what the rest of 2026 has in store.
Predicting the year will topple 2021 as the most active of all time, Aiyengar provides insight on AI ROI and stock market concentration, the valuation premium afforded to larger companies, private equity exit overhangs and how to execute realisations, and unprecedented “direct engagement” by White House officials in key M&A transactions.
When it comes to corporates opting to embrace audacity, “it’s not scale for scale’s sake; it’s not simplicity for simplicity’s sake – it first needs to chin the bar of being strategic,” Aiyengar argues.

“GPs are being run more like the businesses that they acquire,” said Justin Niessner, associate editor of the Asian Venture Capital Journal.
Consolidation among general partners is on the rise globally. Last year, BlackRock acquired HPS Investment Partners. Before that, the firm also acquired Global Infrastructure Partners in 2024.
Asia is primed for M&A among GP firms, partly due to the prevalence of founder-led firms in Asia and the need for a succession plan.
In this episode of Dealcast, Niessner joins Julie-Anna Needham to discuss the consolidation of GPs in Asia and why GPs and LPs may, or may not, find further integration attractive.
The episode dives into what GPs need to make a transaction successful and to make LPs comfortable, where it is happening in the market, and how the mega-sizing of firms may actually lead to the rise of more independent ones.

“There's no question that in some parts of the market, leverage has stretched significantly, and that's a real issue for some of those portfolios that we see out there,” said Alex Garnier, founding partner at NorthWall Capital.
In this episode Garnier joins Rachel Lewis, Mergermarket’s co-head of news, to discuss the growth of specialist credit in Europe.
NorthWall is an alternative private credit lender that specializes in financing situational complexity. In this Dealcast, listeners get a look inside NorthWall’s strategy, which employs a different approach to provide different returns compared to traditional private direct lending.
But what makes a situation complex? This episode discusses factors like market conditions, a complicated carveout, or a tight transaction timeline. Garnier and Lewis also tackle the current uncertainty in the market which has led banks and direct lenders to retreat and how that presents opportunities to be selective with underserved segments.