Goldman Sachs expects merger and acquisition volumes for the industry in 2026 to approach a 2021 record, with corporate activity driving the dealmaking flow.
John Waldron, the financial venture’s president, told a financial conference in New York, “We’re on track to be near the record, if not breaching the record of 2021.” Our backlogs feel good. Activity is remaining strong. Interestingly, it’s really a corporate-led market.”
Goldman, the world’s top merger and acquisition adviser for over two decades, has benefited from strong global dealmaking, with things steadily rebounding after a sharp slump in the immediate weeks after the start of the Iran war.
In 2026, the venture has worked on several large transactions, including advising Unilever on the planned merger of its food business with McCormick to create a USD 65 billion company. Even though the Iran war-related disruptions are there, they, along with valuation swings, have yet to deter corporate dealmaking, as transactions in the Q1 exceeded USD 1.2 trillion, and dealmakers say much more is in the pipeline.
Noting that the overall value of M&A stood at a record USD 5.8 trillion in 2021, Waldron said Goldman has been constructive about the market for initial public offerings (IPOs). He also expressed hope about the likely success of some mega IPOs ushering in more deals.
“We tend to see an enormous amount of liquidity and capital in the world that wants to allocate into growth into this theme, particularly when you get into some pretty exceptional companies,” he said without naming the firms.
Goldman Sachs recently secured the much-coveted lead left position in Elon Musk’s rocket and satellite maker SpaceX’s IPO. The position refers to the bank that holds the most senior and prominent role among all the underwriters of an IPO deal.
Both Morgan Stanley and Goldman got named as the lead bankers on the IPO prospectus. It is worth mentioning that Morgan Stanley has been advising Musk for years. In 2010, it took Tesla public, alongside Goldman Sachs, which again became the lead left-underwriter.
Bank of America, Citigroup and JPMorgan are also reportedly among the banks slated to lead the highly anticipated listing, with 16 other financial institutions occupying smaller roles spanning institutional, retail and international channels.