In Dykema’s 21st Annual Mergers & Acquisitions Outlook Survey the operative words are “cautious optimism” with an emphasis on optimism: 74 percent of respondents saying the M&A market will strengthen over the next 12 months.
This year’s survey — fielded in August and September 2025 — involved the insights from 216 professionals, corporate executives, lawyers, bankers and private equity investors, and their views of the current M&A landscape.
That’s an important chronological fact to remember. But let’s continue.
Optimism has been a consistent theme since the record-breaking post-pandemic market of 2021. In each of Dykema’s surveys since 2022, a majority has responded that the following year will be better.
In 2024, the figure was 70 percent. In 2023, 57 percent predicted a coming year of growth in an economy that provided “stable ground amid economic uncertainty.” And even in 2022, with inflation reaching 8.2 percent, 65 percent of respondents had predicted growth, “in the face of economic uncertainty and rate hikes.”
That’s the optimism. The cautious part is nuanced, but a look at the stats suggests both can be forgiven.
By the end of September, after the survey was taken, third quarter volume in Texas M&A was down quarter-over-quarter by nearly 20 percent (324 in 2025 to 402 in 2024); total value, however, was up by an astonishing 40 percent ($316 billion in 2025, up from $224.7 billion a year earlier), according to The Texas Lawbook‘s exclusive Corporate Deal Tracker.
Kari Lutringer, a Dykema member in Houston, says a sense of caution isn’t diminishing the new wave of deal optimism. It’s an evolution in the dealmaking itself.
“Texas continues to be a hotbed for M&A activity, but the tone has shifted,” says Lutringer. “We’re seeing clients become more deliberate — scrutinizing valuations, adjusting deal structures and leaning heavily on due diligence to navigate market volatility.”
This year the belief was particularly strong in at least three major M&A markets: Healthcare (62%), Energy & Natural Resources (70%) and the U.S. Automotive, Transportation and Mobility (62%).
“In sectors like energy and infrastructure, strategic consolidation is driving deal flow, with buyers focused on expanding capabilities and positioning for long-term competitiveness,” Lutringer said.
Bryan Henderson, a Dallas partner at Baker Botts, says the pattern holds in his private equity practice, as well.
“I think there is certainly an expansion of private equity and private capital across industry spectrums. We still see a lot of activity in traditional areas like energy, but we also see activity in the AI space,” Henderson said.
Sean Buckley, an IP lawyer in Dykema’s Dallas office, says the deals are becoming more complex — along with the diversity of the parties involved — and driven by consolidation regardless of the sector.
“Technology transactions are increasingly shaped by the race for innovation,” said Buckley. “Deals are being driven by the need to secure proprietary platforms, AI capabilities and scalable data infrastructure. Legal teams are navigating complex issues around IP ownership, algorithmic accountability and cross-border compliance — making sector expertise essential to structuring deals that protect core assets enabling integration.”
Kevin Henderson, a partner at SMB Law, specializes in the low-to-middle M&A markets. He says M&A in those sectors has remained “a seller’s market.”
“We’re up in deals. I’m not sure how we would compare in the overall market, but I don’t expect the smaller markets to change,” Henderson said.
In the Dykema survey, about 69 percent said their company or its portcos would likely be on the buy-side of a deal in the next year, 52 percent anticipated buying in to a joint venture and half said they would likely be on the sell-side over the next 12 months.
Some saw obstacles to M&A deals declining year over year.
In 2024, 32 percent said financial markets had been an obstacle to dealmaking. This year that figure declined to 26 percent. Where 29 percent cited a scarcity of quality targets in 2024, the number fell to 26 percent in the most recent survey. Likewise, there were declines year over year in concerns over supply chain disruptions (26% to 18%), buyer competition (26% to 18%), regulatory environments (16% to 15%) and due diligence issues (17% to 12%).
But despite those declines, some major issues are perceived as ongoing.
Where 36 percent of respondents cited “general economic conditions” as an obstacle to their dealmaking in 2024, 39 percent picked the same culprit in 2025, with 42 percent predicting that the economy will still be a problem over the next 12 months. While 26 percent cite “buyer competition” as problematic during the previous year, 29 percent predict it as a problem in the coming year.
And then there are the tariffs: only 8 percent surveyed in 2024 believed they would be a problem in 2025. But 30 percent now believe they will be an obstacle to dealmaking in the coming year.
Across the private equity market, where exit values in 2025 are running 26 percent below those of 2023, the expected major obstacles to M&A deals leading up to next Fall, are both enduring and familiar: economic volatility (47%), limited exit opportunities (35%) and misaligned valuations (34%).
Still, a total of 69 percent of respondents “Strongly Agree” (22%) or “Somewhat Agree” (47%) that “private equity investors will boost deal activity.”
While concerns over federal regulatory have abated in some categories, ESG remains a thing, with 63 percent of respondents “Very Likely” (28%) or “Somewhat Likely (35%) to be involved in a deal in which the target company or buyer is screened for ESG risk.