Suzanne Kumar

2 weeks ago | bain.com | Dale Stafford |Kai Grass |David Harding |Suzanne Kumar

The tariffs announced on April 2, 2025, marked the end of the beginning for a new economic world order. The effect on dealmaking has been swift, with strategic M&A dropping by 39% in April. Now, as companies wrestle with the immediate and long-term impacts on strategy and the rising risk of recession, those that thrive will rapidly retool for a world in which the free movement of goods, capital, IP, and people cannot be taken for granted.

Feb 4, 2025 | bain.com | Dale Stafford |Kai Grass |David Harding |Suzanne Kumar

This article is part of Bain's 2025 M&A Report. After three years of underwhelming M&A activity, 2025 may finally be the year that the M&A market breaks through. During that slow time, the best companies persisted, learning how to navigate unfavorable market realities to deliver inorganic growth. For many, there wasn’t an option. Foundational shifts in technology, sector profit pools, and the broader global economy demanded a strategic response.

Jul 9, 2024 | bain.com | David Harding |Dale Stafford |Suzanne Kumar

The first half of 2024 brought with it a continuation of both higher interest rates and heavy regulatory scrutiny of deals, yet companies are finding ways to adapt to these conditions, showing signs of more sophisticated approaches to value creation through M&A. Deals maintained the steady pace in volume and value growth that began in the last half of last year. But look deeper into the 2024 data, and you find two main areas of activity.

Apr 8, 2024 | bain.com | David Harding |Dale Stafford |Suzanne Kumar

Let’s hop into the time machine and dial in 2004. The deal of the year was the Sears/Kmart merger. Tech giants like Lucent and Juniper Networks were active, and lest we forget, Cingular bought AT&T Wireless, only to be acquired by the new AT&T two years later. Like so many others, these companies were all struggling to grow at a time when the empirical evidence clearly showed how difficult it was to grow a world-class business organically. Yes, they knew they were taking a big risk with M&A.

Mar 13, 2024 | 4hoteliers.com | David Harding |Dale Stafford |Kai Grass |Suzanne Kumar

Many of the assets that didn’t come to market in the down year of 2023 will fuel active dealmaking in 2024. Corporates will sell assets that do not fit with their strategy, and private equity will sell aging portfolio companies. We expect more scale deals for consolidation before seeing a return to scope-oriented capability investing to drive growth. As competition intensifies, conviction and speed will be necessary to win deals and make them succeed. This article is part of Bain's 2024 M&A Report.