Corporate dealmaking is breaking records despite a volatile macro backdrop. 22 M&A transactions worth more than $10 billion each were agreed in Q1 2026, according to London Stock Exchange Group data, beating the previous record of 21 in Q4 2015. Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan Chase both reported strong Q1 results helped by M&A fees, and Bill Ackman's Pershing Square this month tabled a $55 billion offer for Universal Music.

Drivers include Donald Trump's rollback of Joe Biden's strict antitrust enforcement, defensive consolidation against AI disruption, and corporate strategies to expand in Europe or deepen a US footprint amid tariff frictions. Clouds are forming though: Goldman's investment-banking backlog (the pipeline of expected fees from announced but unclosed deals) has fallen from record levels, and JPMorgan's CFO said Middle East developments 'could have an impact on deal execution and timing'.

The FT editorial board cautions that history is unforgiving: research over 40 years shows 70% to 75% of acquisitions fail. The 2015 cohort offers mixed lessons — Shell's takeover of BG Group largely delivered, but Charter/Time Warner Cable saddled shareholders with pain, AB InBev's SABMiller debt constrained it for years, and Kraft Heinz, 2015's signature deal, is now being split up and remains the decade's marquee failure. Boards, the FT warns, should 'think carefully, or risk making their investors pay'. Source: Financial Times, 15 April 2026, The editorial board.