Upcoming M&A Deals: 20 Pending Mergers and Acquisitions, 2026 to 2027

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Twenty announced M&A deals worth about $530 billion are still waiting to close as of October, 2026. The largest is Union Pacific's $85 billion merger with Norfolk Southern, which the Surface Transportation Board moved to a merits review on August 18, 2026, with opposition comments due November 18 and replies due February 16, 2027. NextEra Energy's all-stock acquisition of Dominion Energy, for which neither company disclosed a value, ranks second and now carries a second-half 2027 closing target after both shareholder votes passed on September 3. Kimberly-Clark's $48.7 billion purchase of Kenvue and McCormick's $44.8 billion combination with Unilever Foods follow. The largest deal to leave the list since August is Paramount Skydance's $110 billion acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery, which closed on October 6 after Paramount settled with the twelve states that had sued to block it. This tracker lists every pending deal by value with its price basis, the specific approval still outstanding and the expected close.

Pending Deals

Upcoming M&A Deals: 20 Pending Transactions

Announced but not yet completed, ordered by deal value, as of 14 October 2026. Every figure is taken from the acquirer’s own release, an SEC filing or a regulator decision, with the basis stated.

  1. 1

    Union Pacific / Norfolk Southern

    $85Benterprise value. NS holders receive 1.0 UNP share plus $88.82 cash

    STB merits review; comments due 18 Nov 2026Announced Decision 2027Freight Rail

    The first coast-to-coast freight railroad in the United States, connecting more than 50,000 route miles across 43 states and about 100 ports, and the deal with the longest regulatory road still ahead of it. The Surface Transportation Board found the original application incomplete in January 2026, accepted a revised one on 28 May and held the case in abeyance over the summer, then lifted the abeyance on 18 August 2026 and set a schedule for a merits review: comments and protests on the revised application are due 18 November 2026 and replies 16 February 2027, with a public hearing date still to be set. On 18 September the Board denied motions from BNSF, CSX and a shipper coalition asking it to reject the application outright, saying the denial “does not reflect any determination on the merits.” Once the record closes the Board has up to 90 days to decide.

    Source: STB Decision, 18 Aug 2026

  2. 2

    NextEra Energy / Dominion Energy

    Not disclosed0.8138 NextEra shares per Dominion share plus $360M aggregate cash

    Shareholders approved; state and federal reviewsAnnounced Expected H2 2027Utilities

    The largest regulated electric utility combination ever attempted. Both shareholder votes passed on 3 September 2026, and applications are in front of FERC, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, the Virginia SCC, the North Carolina Utilities Commission and the South Carolina PSC; the companies now say the combination is expected to close in the second half of 2027. Neither company disclosed a transaction value, so the $66.8 billion figure used by Reuters and LSEG is a derived calculation and should be attributed rather than stated as fact. Dominion holders receive a fixed 0.8138 NextEra shares each plus a one-time $360 million cash payment at closing, leaving NextEra holders with about 74.5% of the combined company. Virginia is the pressure point given how much data-centre load growth sits in Dominion’s territory.

    Source: Dominion Energy merger updates

  3. 3

    Kimberly-Clark / Kenvue

    $48.7Benterprise value. $3.50 cash plus 0.14625 Kimberly-Clark shares per Kenvue share

    EU cleared with conditions 14 Oct 2026Announced Expected Q4 2026Consumer Health

    Kimberly-Clark agreed to acquire the Johnson & Johnson consumer-health spin-off in a cash-and-stock deal valued at $48.7 billion of enterprise value, with Kenvue holders ending up with about 46% of the combined company. Shareholder approvals and US antitrust clearance are done, and the European Commission approved on 14 October 2026 on condition that Kimberly-Clark divests its feminine-care brands in the European Economic Area. Kimberly-Clark said on 13 October that completion “is expected to take place in the fourth quarter of 2026.”

    Source: Kimberly-Clark 8-K, 13 Oct 2026

  4. 4

    McCormick / Unilever foods business

    $44.8Benterprise value at 13.8x FY2025 EBITDA

    FTC cleared; UK CMA Phase 1 to 11 Nov 2026Announced Expected mid-2027Food & Beverage

    McCormick is combining with Unilever’s foods arm in a deal valued at 13.8 times FY2025 EBITDA. Unilever receives $15.7 billion in cash plus stock representing 65.0% of the combined company, worth roughly $29.1 billion, which means the acquirer’s own shareholders end up in the minority. The FTC granted early termination of the HSR waiting period on 5 October 2026. The UK Competition and Markets Authority opened a formal Phase 1 inquiry on 17 September with an 11 November deadline, and Unilever has put Colman’s up for sale to address the overlap with French’s. McCormick repeated on 1 October that it expects to close by mid-2027.

    Source: McCormick 425 filing, Sep 2026

  5. 5

    GIP and EQT consortium / AES

    $33.4Benterprise value. Equity value is $10.7B at $15.00 per share

    PUCO approved 17 Sep 2026; other approvalsAnnounced Late 2026 or early 2027Energy / Power

    A consortium led by Global Infrastructure Partners (BlackRock) and EQT, with CalPERS and the Qatar Investment Authority alongside, is taking the power producer private at $15.00 a share. That is a 40.3% premium to the 30-day volume-weighted average price before 8 July 2025. The gap between the headline and the cheque is worth noting: enterprise value is $33.4 billion but equity value is only $10.7 billion, the difference being AES’s debt load. Stockholders approved on 26 June 2026 with 97.9% of votes cast, and the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio approved on 17 September. AES says closing remains subject to additional regulatory approvals and is expected in late 2026 or early 2027.

    Source: AES 8-K, Sep 2026

  6. 6

    Banca Monte dei Paschi / Banco BPM and Banca Generali

    ~$40B€34.0 billion combined: €25.3B for Banco BPM and €8.7B for Banca Generali, all in new MPS shares

    Consob and regulatory approvalsAnnounced Expected mid-Feb 2027Financial Services

    Monte dei Paschi is offering 1.567 new shares for each Banco BPM share, valuing it at €16.729 a share and €25.3 billion in total with no premium, and 6.958 new shares for each Banca Generali share, €74.284 and €8.7 billion at a 10% premium, plus a €4 billion special dividend for its own holders. The bank filed its offer documents with Consob on 10 September 2026 and says the transaction is anticipated to complete by mid-February 2027, pending authorisations.

    Source: MPS press release, 21 Aug 2026 (PDF)

  7. 7

    Schneider Electric / PTC

    $22.6Bequity value, $23.7B enterprise value, at $205.00 per share in cash

    Shareholder and regulatory approvalsAnnounced Expected Q3 2027Industrial Software

    Schneider Electric is paying $205.00 a share in cash for the industrial-software group, a 42.3% premium to the prior close and 46.1% to the 30-day volume-weighted average, with both boards approving unanimously. The deal pairs PTC’s product-lifecycle and CAD software with Schneider’s automation and energy-management business. The parties guide to a third-quarter 2027 close.

    Source: PTC announcement, 5 Oct 2026

  8. 8

    Bouygues, Iliad and Orange / SFR

    ~$23.4B€20.4 billion enterprise value, split three ways

    MoU signed; definitive agreements due H2 2026Announced Expected H2 2027Telecommunications

    France’s three remaining mobile operators are carving up the fourth. A memorandum of understanding with Altice France was signed on 6 June 2026, splitting SFR roughly 42% to Bouygues Telecom, 31% to Free and 27% to Orange, with an earn-out of up to €0.65 billion. The parties expect to sign definitive agreements in the second half of 2026 and say completion could occur in the second half of 2027, following clearance from the competent authorities. Four-to-three consolidation is precisely the structure competition authorities have historically resisted, so expect the most closely examined European telecoms review in years.

    Source: Bouygues MoU release (PDF)

  9. 9

    Fox Corporation / Roku

    $22Benterprise value at $160.00 per share

    DOJ Second Request; shareholders approved 14 Oct 2026Announced Expected H1 2027Media / Streaming

    Fox is buying the streaming platform at $160.00 a share, $96.00 in cash plus 0.9693 Fox Class A shares, leaving Fox holders with about 73% of the combined company. Roku stockholders approved the merger on 14 October 2026. The Justice Department issued a Second Request in September, extending the HSR waiting period until 30 days after both parties substantially comply, and Fox says the merger remains on track to close in the first half of 2027, with an outside date of 14 June 2027 that can extend into 2028 for regulatory reasons. The premium is roughly 11% to the prior close, unusually thin for a deal this size and not disclosed in the release itself.

    Source: Roku proxy statement, Sep 2026

  10. 10

    Prologis / Segro

    ~$18.8B£14.0 billion equity value. 0.0920 new Prologis shares per Segro share, or 0.0690 shares plus up to 258p cash

    Scheme; shareholder and regulatory approvalsAnnounced Expected H1 2027Real Estate

    The world’s largest logistics landlord made a firm offer for its largest UK-listed peer on 4 August 2026, at an implied 1,031.7p a share, a 39% premium to Segro’s undisturbed price of 742p. Holders can take all stock or elect a partial cash alternative capped at £3.51 billion, about a quarter of the total. As a court-sanctioned scheme the timetable is set by the shareholder meetings and the sanction hearing; Prologis expects completion in the first half of 2027.

    Source: Prologis Rule 2.7 announcement, 4 Aug 2026

  11. 11

    Fertitta Entertainment / Caesars

    $17.6Btake-private at $31.00 per share in cash

    FTC Second Request; gaming licencesAnnounced Expected 2027Consumer / Gaming

    Tilman Fertitta is taking the casino and hospitality operator private at $31.00 a share, consolidating two of the larger US gaming platforms under single ownership. Caesars stockholders approved on 22 September 2026. The FTC issued a Second Request on 14 September, and gaming regulators in every state where Caesars holds a licence must approve the change of control; Fertitta’s own executives told the Nevada Gaming Control Board in July that those approvals would take nine to ten months. A ticking fee of $0.00715 a share per day starts if the deal has not closed by 26 June 2027.

    Source: Caesars 8-K, Sep 2026

  12. 12

    Aon / USI Insurance Services

    $17.0Bpurchase price, $16.7B net, 14.5x synergised trailing EBITDA, all cash

    Regulatory approvalsAnnounced Expected Q4 2026Insurance Brokerage

    Aon is buying the KKR-backed broker for $17.0 billion in cash, funded with debt, and priced $13.5 billion of notes for it on 14 September. The company guides to a fourth-quarter 2026 close, which makes it one of the few deals on this list likely to complete before year end.

    Source: Aon 8-K, 31 Aug 2026

  13. 13

    Uber / Delivery Hero

    ~$14.8B€41.50 per share in cash, 100% basis

    Tender offer open to 5 Nov 2026Announced Expected H2 2027Technology / Delivery

    Uber is bidding €41.50 a share in cash for the German delivery group. BaFin approved the offer document on 27 August 2026 and the acceptance period runs to 5 November; Delivery Hero’s boards recommended acceptance on 2 September, and Uber’s existing stake and Prosus’s irrevocable commitment together cover more than the minimum acceptance of 50% plus one share. The premium depends entirely on the reference you pick: 127% against the three-month volume-weighted average before 8 May, or 34% against the three-month average before announcement. Use the 34%. Uber has also pre-agreed the remedy: 14 overlapping markets worth about €11 billion of 2025 gross merchandise value go to SSW Partners for roughly €1.4 billion. Completion is guided to the second half of 2027.

    Source: Uber offer document release, 27 Aug 2026

  14. 14

    Boston Scientific / Penumbra

    $14.5Benterprise value at $374.00 per share, about 73% cash

    FTC Second Request; Brazil CADEAnnounced Expected H2 2026Healthcare / Med-tech

    The largest med-tech deal of 2026 and Boston Scientific’s entry into stroke and peripheral interventional. Penumbra holders can elect $374.00 in cash or 3.8721 Boston Scientific shares, with the mix landing around 73% cash. Penumbra stockholders approved on 6 May 2026. The FTC issued a Second Request on 16 March and Brazil’s CADE opened a review in August; Boston Scientific said on its 29 July earnings call that it continues to expect a close in the second half of 2026, subject to the remaining regulatory clearances, and has not updated that guidance since. No premium was disclosed. Note the announcement date is January 2026, not 2023: the deal is sometimes misfiled to an earlier year.

    Source: Boston Scientific announcement

  15. 15

    Nvidia / Hugging Face

    $12.9B$12.93 billion per Nvidia’s announcement, as reported

    Regulatory approvalsAnnounced Expected H1 2027Technology / AI

    Nvidia announced on 3 September 2026 that it is acquiring the open-model platform, which hosts more than two million models and 500,000 datasets for 18 million developers, for about $12.9 billion. Jensen Huang framed it as a bet on open models: “Open models strengthen safety and cybersecurity, accelerate innovation and diffusion, and enable sovereignty.” The company expects to close in the first half of 2027, pending regulatory approval.

    Source: Nvidia announcement, as reported 3 Sep 2026

  16. 16

    Sun Pharma / Organon

    $11.75Benterprise value at $14.00 per share, all cash

    Regulatory approvals; holders approved 23 Jul 2026Announced Expected early 2027Healthcare / Pharma

    India’s Sun Pharma is buying the Merck spin-off to build a global women’s health and biosimilars platform, in the largest deal in its history. Organon stockholders approved on 23 July 2026, leaving regulatory approvals as the only gating item, and the company reiterated at its second-quarter results that closing is expected in early 2027. Be careful with the premium. Organon’s own transaction deck markets a 103% premium, but that is measured to its 9 April closing price, seventeen days before announcement, during which the stock ran hard on deal speculation. The one-day premium to the Friday close before announcement is about 24%. Sun Pharma’s own release states no premium at all.

    Source: Sun Pharma, shareholder approval release (PDF)

  17. 17

    Merck KGaA / Bio-Techne

    $11.3Benterprise value, €9.9 billion, at $73.00 per share

    HSR expired 18 Sep 2026; other jurisdictionsAnnounced Late 2026 or early 2027Healthcare / Life Sciences

    The German group is paying $73.00 a share in cash to deepen its life-science tools portfolio. The HSR waiting period expired on 18 September 2026 and Bio-Techne shareholders approved on 23 September, so what remains is clearance in other jurisdictions; Bio-Techne continues to expect the transaction to close by late 2026 or early 2027. The disclosed 36% premium is measured to the one-month volume-weighted average rather than the prior close, so it should not be described as a premium to the last close.

    Source: Bio-Techne shareholder approval release, 23 Sep 2026

  18. 18

    AMD / World Labs

    ~$8.2Ball stock

    Customary closing conditionsAnnounced Expected end of 2026Technology / AI

    AMD is buying Fei-Fei Li’s spatial-intelligence start-up in an all-stock deal valued at about $8.2 billion. The company expects to close by the end of 2026.

    Source: AMD announcement, 28 Sep 2026

  19. 19

    Curium / Lantheus

    Up to $8.0B$102.50 per share in cash plus a contingent value right of up to $12.00

    Stockholders approved 14 Oct 2026; regulatory approvalsAnnounced Expected H1 2027Healthcare / Radiopharma

    The CapVest-backed French radiopharmaceutical group is merging with Lantheus at $102.50 a share in cash plus a CVR worth up to $12.00, for a headline value of up to $8 billion. Lantheus stockholders approved on 14 October 2026 with about 97% of votes cast in favour. State the upfront figure and the CVR separately; the $8 billion is only reached if every milestone pays.

    Source: Lantheus 8-K, 14 Oct 2026

  20. 20

    Sequence Holdings and DFO Management / The Baldwin Group

    $7.7Benterprise value, $4.6B equity plus $3.1B net debt, at $32.50 per share in cash

    Shareholder and regulatory approvalsAnnounced Expected Q1 2027Insurance Brokerage

    The Dell family office and Sequence Holdings are taking the insurance distributor private at $32.50 a share in cash, an 88% premium to the 17 June unaffected price. The deal is expected to close in the first quarter of 2027.

    Source: Deal summary, 14 Sep 2026

Closed Since August 2026

Eight deals from the August list have completed. Paramount Skydance closed its $110 billion acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery on October 6, 2026 after settling with the twelve states that had sued to block it; the combined company trades as Skydance. Nuveen completed its £9.9 billion purchase of Schroders on October 1. AbbVie closed Apogee Therapeutics ($10.9 billion) on September 3. Martin Marietta closed Lhoist North America ($13.5 billion) on August 21. Charter closed Cox Communications ($34.5 billion enterprise value) and Santander closed Webster Financial ($12.2 billion) on the same day, August 20. Equity Residential and AvalonBay completed their merger of equals on August 17 and now trade as Vivmark Residential, with an enterprise value of about $70 billion. SpaceX completed its all-stock acquisition of Cursor, reported at about $60 billion, on August 14. Skyworks also closed its $22 billion combination with Qorvo on October 5. One deal was called off: Solstice Advanced Materials and Element Solutions terminated their $14.5 billion merger by mutual agreement on August 27, with no fee paid by either side.

If you're interested in what's been going on in the market recently, check out our recent M&A deals tracker.

Deal Tracker

M&A Deal Tracker: Pending and Recently Closed

Every pending deal from this article plus the largest 2026 closings, in one filterable view, updated 14 October 2026. Sort by value, announcement date, sector or status; for pending deals the status column shows the expected close. Closed deals under $4 billion and all 2024 and 2025 closings are in the closed-deals table further down the page.

Status
Sector
M&A deal tracker listing pending and recently closed transactions with deal value, announcement or closing date, sector and status.
# Deal Value Date Sector Status / expected close
1Union Pacific / Norfolk SouthernEnterprise value. STB merits review; comments due 18 Nov 2026$85BIndustrialDecision 2027
2NextEra Energy / Dominion EnergyNeither party disclosed a value. Votes passed 3 Sep 2026Not disclosedEnergyExpected H2 2027
3Kimberly-Clark / KenvueEnterprise value. EU cleared with conditions 14 Oct 2026$48.7BConsumerExpected Q4 2026
4McCormick / Unilever foods businessEnterprise value. FTC cleared; CMA Phase 1 to 11 Nov$44.8BConsumerExpected mid-2027
5Banca Monte dei Paschi / Banco BPM and Banca Generali€34.0B combined, all share. Consob and regulatory approvals~$40BFinancial ServicesExpected mid-Feb 2027
6GIP and EQT consortium / AESEnterprise value. Equity $10.7B. PUCO approved 17 Sep 2026$33.4BEnergyLate 2026 or early 2027
7Bouygues, Iliad and Orange / SFR€20.4 billion, split three ways. MoU signed 6 Jun 2026~$23.4BTelecomExpected H2 2027
8Schneider Electric / PTCEquity value. $23.7B enterprise value at $205.00/share cash$22.6BTechnologyExpected Q3 2027
9Fox Corporation / RokuEnterprise value at $160.00/share. DOJ Second Request$22BMediaExpected H1 2027
10Prologis / Segro£14.0B equity value. Scheme of arrangement~$18.8BReal EstateExpected H1 2027
11Fertitta Entertainment / CaesarsTake-private at $31.00/share. FTC Second Request 14 Sep 2026$17.6BConsumerExpected 2027
12Aon / USI Insurance ServicesPurchase price, all cash. Close guided to Q4 2026$17.0BFinancial ServicesExpected Q4 2026
13Uber / Delivery Hero€41.50/share cash. Tender open to 5 Nov 2026~$14.8BTechnologyExpected H2 2027
14Boston Scientific / PenumbraEnterprise value at $374.00/share. FTC Second Request$14.5BHealthcareExpected H2 2026
15Nvidia / Hugging Face$12.93B per Nvidia’s announcement, as reported$12.9BTechnologyExpected H1 2027
16Sun Pharma / OrganonEnterprise value at $14.00/share. Holders approved 23 Jul 2026$11.75BHealthcareExpected early 2027
17Merck KGaA / Bio-TechneEnterprise value at $73.00/share. HSR expired; holders approved$11.3BHealthcareLate 2026 or early 2027
18Wittington Investments and Fairfax / BootsIncluding assumed debt. Close Q1 2027$8.9BConsumerExpected Q1 2027
19AMD / World LabsAll stock. Close expected by end of 2026~$8.2BTechnologyExpected end of 2026
20Curium / LantheusUp to $8.0B incl. CVR. Holders approved 14 Oct 2026Up to $8.0BHealthcareExpected H1 2027
21Sequence Holdings and DFO Management / The Baldwin GroupEnterprise value. $32.50/share cash. Close Q1 2027$7.7BFinancial ServicesExpected Q1 2027
22Victory Capital / First Eagle Investment Management~$4.4B cash + ~$2.0B stock + $575M notes~$7.0BFinancial ServicesBy end of Q1 2027
23ICE / MarketAxessEquity value at $167.00/share. HSR refiled; vote 29 Oct 2026$6.0BFinancial ServicesExpected H1 2027
24C.H. Robinson / RXO$30.25/share implied: $17.25 cash + 0.0856 CHRW shares$5.8BIndustrialExpected H1 2027
25CD&R and McKesson / Option Care Health$32.05/share cash, 37% premium$5.8BHealthcareExpected H1 2027
26KKR / Integer HoldingsEnterprise value at $127.00/share cash~$5.7BHealthcareExpected end of 2026
27onsemi / SynapticsRevised agreement at $123.00/share cash (originally ~$7B, 25 Jun)~$5.7BTechnologyExpected mid-2027
28SoftBank / ABB RoboticsEnterprise value. Carve-out of the robotics division$5.375BIndustrialExpected by end of 2026
29KKR / Gen II Fund ServicesEnterprise value. From Hg and General Atlantic$5.1BFinancial ServicesExpected 2027
30SpaceX / xAIPress-reported. Neither party disclosed a value~$250BTechnologyClosed
31Paramount Skydance / Warner Bros. DiscoveryEnterprise value. $31.02/share cash at close. Now Skydance (SKYD)$110BMediaClosed
32Equity Residential / AvalonBay (Vivmark Residential)Combined enterprise value at close. Merger of equals~$70BReal EstateClosed
33SpaceX / Cursor (Anysphere)All stock. Value from SEC filings, not a company release~$60BTechnologyClosed
34Electronic Arts / PIF, Silver Lake, AffinityEnterprise value at $210.00/share$55BTechnologyClosed
35Charter Communications / Cox CommunicationsEnterprise value for Cox$34.5BTelecomClosed
36Google / WizAll cash. DOJ cleared Nov 2025, EU Feb 2026$32BTechnologyClosed
37Devon Energy / Coterra EnergyImplied consideration. Combined enterprise value ~$58B~$25BEnergyClosed
38Skyworks / Qorvo0.960 Skyworks shares + $32.50 cash per Qorvo share~$22BTechnologyClosed
39Engie / UK Power Networks£15.8B enterprise value, £10.5B equity~$21.4BEnergyClosed
40Shell / ARC ResourcesEnterprise value incl. ~$2.5B net debt. Equity ~$13.9B$16.5BEnergyClosed
41Martin Marietta / Lhoist North AmericaEnterprise value. $7.0B cash + $6.5B stock$13.5BMaterialsClosed
42Nuveen / Schroders£9.9 billion at 590p/share~$13.5BFinancial ServicesClosed
43Santander / Webster Financial$75.59/share: $48.75 cash + 2.0548 Santander ADSs$12.2BFinancial ServicesClosed
44AbbVie / Apogee TherapeuticsEquity value at $135.11/share$10.9BHealthcareClosed
45GSK / NuvalentEquity value; $9.4B net of cash$10.6BHealthcareClosed
46Vertex / Crinetics PharmaceuticalsAll cash$10BHealthcareClosed
47Hg / OneStreamEquity value at $24.00/share$6.4BTechnologyClosed
48Eli Lilly / Centessa Pharmaceuticals$38.00/share plus a CVR of up to $9.00$6.3BHealthcareClosed
49Williams / Momentum Midstream~$3.5B cash and debt + ~$2B Williams equity$5.5BEnergyClosed
50Capital One / BrexStock and cash$5.15BFinancial ServicesClosed
51Alphabet / IntersectPlus assumed debt. Carve-out: TX and CA excluded$4.75BEnergyClosed
52Angelini Pharma / Catalyst Pharmaceuticals€3.5 billion$4.1BHealthcareClosed
53Solstice Advanced Materials / Element SolutionsIncluding net debt. Mutual termination, no fee$14.5BMaterialsTerminated 27 Aug 2026
Showing 44 of 44 deals. Pending deals are listed first, then closed deals, each ordered by value. Deal values are not comparable unless the basis matches, so each row states whether the figure is an enterprise value, an equity value or a per-share price, and flags carve-outs and press-reported figures. Where neither party disclosed a value, the row says so rather than showing an estimate. Announcement dates are shown for pending deals and closing dates for completed ones.

When Are the Pending Deals Expected to Close?

Expected close dates come from the companies’ own guidance and shift as approvals land, so each date below is the parties’ latest public statement, not a prediction. As of October 14, 2026, the pending deals group as follows.

Fourth quarter of 2026

Kimberly-Clark / Kenvue ($48.7 billion enterprise value) and Aon / USI Insurance Services ($17.0 billion) both guide to a fourth-quarter close. Boston Scientific / Penumbra ($14.5 billion) and SoftBank / ABB Robotics ($5.375 billion) are still guided to the second half of 2026 and are the two most likely to slip. AMD / World Labs (about $8.2 billion) and KKR / Integer ($5.7 billion) are expected by the end of the year. Merck KGaA / Bio-Techne ($11.3 billion) and the AES take-private ($33.4 billion enterprise value) sit on the boundary, with guidance of late 2026 or early 2027. Uber’s offer for Delivery Hero closes to acceptances on November 5, but completion is not expected until the second half of 2027.

First quarter of 2027

Sun Pharma / Organon ($11.75 billion) is expected in early 2027. The Baldwin Group take-private ($7.7 billion enterprise value), Victory Capital / First Eagle (about $7 billion) and the Weston family’s $8.9 billion purchase of Boots guide to the first quarter. Monte dei Paschi expects its combination with Banco BPM and Banca Generali to complete by mid-February.

First half of 2027

Fox / Roku ($22 billion enterprise value), Prologis / Segro (£14 billion), Nvidia / Hugging Face ($12.9 billion), Curium / Lantheus (up to $8 billion), ICE / MarketAxess ($6 billion), C.H. Robinson / RXO ($5.8 billion) and CD&R and McKesson / Option Care Health ($5.8 billion) are all guided to the first half. Fertitta / Caesars ($17.6 billion) has no company guidance, but Fertitta’s executives told Nevada regulators in July 2026 that gaming approvals would take nine to ten months, which points to the second quarter.

Second half of 2027 or later

The largest deals have the longest runways. NextEra / Dominion is guided to the second half of 2027, as are Uber / Delivery Hero and the three-way carve-up of SFR. Schneider Electric / PTC ($22.6 billion equity value) guides to the third quarter of 2027, McCormick / Unilever Foods ($44.8 billion enterprise value) and onsemi / Synaptics to mid-2027. Union Pacific / Norfolk Southern ($85 billion) has no closing date at all: the STB’s schedule runs through reply comments in February 2027 and a hearing yet to be scheduled, and the Board then has up to 90 days after the record closes to decide.

Regulatory risk: how likely is each pending deal to actually close?

No federal agency has gone to court to block a merger in 2026. Dechert's merger-investigation tracker recorded no new federal challenges through the first half of the year, and the enforcement that matters has come from two other places. State attorneys general sued to stop Paramount Skydance / Warner Bros. Discovery and reached a settlement, approved by the court on September 30, built on commitments on theatrical output, cable licensing and newsroom independence; thirteen states and DirecTV are still litigating Nexstar / Tegna, with a trial set for July 9, 2027. And the agencies are using Second Requests to slow deals rather than suits to stop them: Fox / Roku (DOJ, September 2026), Fertitta / Caesars (FTC, September 14), Boston Scientific / Penumbra (FTC, March 16) and ICE / MarketAxess, where the parties withdrew and refiled their HSR notification on September 29 to reset the clock. The Union Pacific / Norfolk Southern merger is the exception to all of this: it is decided by the Surface Transportation Board, not the antitrust agencies, on a schedule that runs into 2027.

Regulatory risk: how likely is each pending deal to actually close?

Not every announced megadeal closes. Below is DealRoom's risk read on each of the 15 pending deals as of Q2 2026 — assessed against the active regulatory dockets and public statements from the FTC, DOJ, FCC, CFIUS, and equivalent foreign authorities. Refreshed quarterly.

Pending Deal Risk What's driving the rating
Netflix / Warner Bros. Discovery — $83B HIGH Combines the world's largest streaming platform with one of the largest Hollywood content libraries; expect 12-18 months of DOJ + FTC + EU review and likely consent decrees on content licensing or carriage terms.
PIF, Silver Lake, Affinity / Electronic Arts — $55B HIGH CFIUS review on Saudi Arabia's PIF taking a controlling stake in a major US gaming company; political risk on top of antitrust review.
Charter Communications / Cox Communications — $34.5B HIGH Active FCC review plus DOJ scrutiny on cable/broadband consolidation. Expected to require divestitures of overlapping franchise areas.
Cisco / Splunk (synergy realization) — $28B LOW Deal already closed; remaining "risk" is integration execution rather than regulatory.
Boston Scientific / Penumbra — $14.5B MEDIUM FTC review of med-tech consolidation in interventional vascular devices. No known major opposition; some product-line divestiture likely.
BlackRock / Global Infrastructure Partners — $12.5B LOW Asset-management consolidation rarely triggers material antitrust opposition; deal effectively complete in regulatory terms.
Apollo + Stone Point / Western Alliance — $11B HIGH Bank acquisitions require Federal Reserve and OCC approval. Post-2023 regional-banking stress means Fed scrutiny is elevated for any acquirer of a $50B+ bank.
Hg Capital / OneStream — $6.4B LOW PE buyout of a single enterprise-software vendor. Standard HSR review, no consolidation concerns.
SoftBank / DigitalBridge — $4B MEDIUM CFIUS review for foreign acquirer (SoftBank) in US data-center infrastructure; data-center assets increasingly classified as critical infrastructure.
Anthropic stake (rumored Google extension) — $4B HIGH Any further Google investment in Anthropic faces both DOJ AI-concentration scrutiny and ongoing search-monopoly remedy proceedings. Status remains rumored.
Sanofi / Dynavax Technologies — $2.2B LOW Small biotech bolt-on. Standard HSR; vaccines portfolio addition with no overlap concerns.
GSK / RAPT Therapeutics — $1.9B LOW Small biotech bolt-on. Standard HSR; clinical-stage asset acquisition.
Allegiant / Sun Country Airlines — $1.5B HIGH DOT airline merger review post Spirit-JetBlue blocking. Two ultra-low-cost carriers combining draws elevated DOJ scrutiny on consumer-pricing impact.
EGH / Hecate Energy — $1.2B LOW SPAC combination with a clean-energy developer; minimal antitrust concern.
Eli Lilly / Ventyx Biosciences — $1.2B LOW Small biotech bolt-on. Standard HSR; immunology pipeline addition.

Withdrawn and Blocked M&A Deals: Recent Cautionary Tales

Not every announced megadeal closes. Tracking withdrawn or blocked deals matters because the regulatory framework that killed them is the same framework that will be applied to today's pending mega-mergers - and the patterns repeat. Here are the most consequential failed announcements of the past three years, with the killer in each case.

Adobe / Figma - $20B (withdrawn December 2023)

Adobe abandoned its $20B Figma acquisition after 15 months of antitrust review by the UK CMA, EU Commission, and US DOJ all signaled they would block. Adobe paid Figma a $1B termination fee. Pattern to watch: any deal that combines a category leader with the strongest emerging challenger draws coordinated multi-jurisdiction review.

Spirit Airlines / JetBlue - $3.8B (blocked January 2024)

A federal judge blocked JetBlue's acquisition of Spirit on antitrust grounds, citing harm to ultra-low-cost-carrier competition and consumer pricing. Spirit subsequently filed for bankruptcy in November 2024. Pattern to watch: US DOJ now treats elimination of a pricing disruptor as standalone consumer harm - directly relevant to today's Allegiant / Sun Country pending deal.

Microsoft / Activision Blizzard - $69B (closed October 2023, but only after extended fight)

Closed eventually but only after the FTC sued, the UK CMA initially blocked, and Microsoft was forced to divest cloud-streaming rights to Ubisoft. Pattern to watch: mega-deals can survive opposition with structural concessions, but expect 18+ months and substantial divestitures - directly relevant to Netflix / WBD's pending review.

Tapestry / Capri (Coach + Michael Kors) - $8.5B (blocked, then abandoned 2024)

Federal court blocked the deal on antitrust grounds in October 2024; Tapestry abandoned the transaction the next month. Pattern to watch: luxury and fashion consolidation now subject to fresh competition-law scrutiny that didn't apply pre-2023.

Kroger / Albertsons - $24.6B (blocked September 2024)

Multiple federal and state courts blocked the supermarket merger; deal officially terminated December 2024. Pattern to watch: divestiture-as-fix proposals that rely on a smaller buyer (in this case C&S Wholesale) are now treated skeptically by courts as inadequate competitive remedies.

For deeper analysis on why these and other M&A deals failed, see our complete guide to the biggest M&A failures in history - and our due-diligence process guide for the steps that catch deal-killing risks before announcement.

Upcoming Healthcare and Pharma M&A Deals (2026-2027)

Six healthcare acquisitions worth about $57 billion combined are pending as of October 14, 2026. Boston Scientific is buying Penumbra for $14.5 billion in enterprise value, Sun Pharma is buying Organon for $11.75 billion, Merck KGaA is buying Bio-Techne for $11.3 billion, Curium is merging with Lantheus for up to $8 billion including a contingent value right, CD&R and McKesson are taking Option Care Health private for $5.8 billion and KKR is taking Integer private for $5.7 billion. Three large deals have closed since the summer: AbbVie completed its $10.9 billion purchase of Apogee Therapeutics on September 3, Vertex closed its $10 billion acquisition of Crinetics on September 1 and GSK closed Nuvalent at $10.6 billion on July 15. Biopharma M&A fell to just under $30 billion across 22 deals in the third quarter, with buyers paying for late-clinical and commercial assets to offset revenue coming off patent before 2030.

  • Boston Scientific / Penumbra - $14.5B. Stroke and peripheral interventional platform. FTC review underway; expected close Q4 2026.
  • Sanofi / Dynavax Technologies - $2.2B. Vaccines portfolio addition. Standard biotech bolt-on; expected close Q3 2026.
  • GSK / RAPT Therapeutics - $1.9B. Clinical-stage immunology assets. Standard HSR; expected close Q3 2026.
  • Eli Lilly / Ventyx Biosciences - $1.2B. Immunology pipeline. Standard HSR; expected close Q3 2026.

Upcoming Technology M&A Deals (2026-2027)

Seven technology deals worth about $92 billion are pending as of October 14, 2026, led by Schneider Electric's $22.6 billion cash offer for PTC, Fox's $22 billion acquisition of Roku and Uber's €41.50-a-share tender for Delivery Hero. Nvidia's purchase of Hugging Face ($12.9 billion), AMD's all-stock deal for World Labs (about $8.2 billion), ICE / MarketAxess ($6 billion) and the revised onsemi / Synaptics agreement ($5.7 billion) make up the rest. The third quarter also cleared a backlog: SpaceX completed its roughly $60 billion all-stock purchase of Cursor on August 14, Skyworks closed its combination with Qorvo on October 5 after receiving its final clearances on September 30, Salesforce closed Fin on September 10 and Charter closed Cox on August 20.

  • PIF, Silver Lake, Affinity / Electronic Arts - $55B. Largest video-game acquisition ever. CFIUS + antitrust review; expected close Q1-Q2 2027.
  • Cisco / Splunk (synergy realization) - $28B. Already closed; entry tracks integration milestones.
  • Hg Capital / OneStream - $6.4B. PE buyout of enterprise CPM software. Standard HSR; expected close Q3 2026.
  • SoftBank / DigitalBridge - $4B. Foreign acquirer in US data-center infrastructure. CFIUS review; expected close Q4 2026.
  • Anthropic stake (rumored Google extension) - $4B. Status remains rumored. If formalized, expect heavy DOJ AI-concentration scrutiny.

Upcoming Energy M&A Deals (2026-2027)

Two energy deals dominate the pending list and neither is close to done. NextEra Energy's all-stock acquisition of Dominion Energy, with no value disclosed by either company, cleared both shareholder votes on September 3, 2026 and now faces FERC, the NRC and utility commissions in Virginia, North Carolina and South Carolina, with closing guided to the second half of 2027. The GIP and EQT consortium's $33.4 billion enterprise-value take-private of AES won Ohio approval on September 17 and is guided to late 2026 or early 2027. Below them, ONEOK agreed on August 30 to buy Brazos Midstream's Permian assets for $4.4 billion with a fourth-quarter close, and Shell completed its $16.5 billion enterprise-value acquisition of ARC Resources on September 2.

  • EGH / Hecate Energy - $1.2B. SPAC combination with a clean-energy developer. Standard regulatory path; expected close Q3 2026.
  • Alphabet / Intersect Power - $4.75B (already closed Q1 2026). Vertical integration of clean-power generation under hyperscaler ownership; signals further hyperscaler-into-utility consolidation in 2026-2027.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the largest pending M&A deal in 2026?

As of October 14, 2026 the largest pending deal is Union Pacific’s $85 billion merger with Norfolk Southern, announced July 29, 2025 and under review by the Surface Transportation Board on a schedule that runs into 2027. NextEra Energy’s all-stock acquisition of Dominion Energy would rank second but neither company disclosed a value; press estimates derived from the exchange ratio put it near $67 billion. The largest pending deal with a disclosed price is Kimberly-Clark’s $48.7 billion enterprise-value acquisition of Kenvue, expected to close in the fourth quarter of 2026.

Which mergers are expected to close in the fourth quarter of 2026?

Five pending deals are guided to close by the end of 2026: Kimberly-Clark / Kenvue ($48.7 billion enterprise value, fourth quarter), Aon / USI Insurance Services ($17.0 billion, fourth quarter), Boston Scientific / Penumbra ($14.5 billion, second half), AMD / World Labs (about $8.2 billion, year end) and KKR / Integer ($5.7 billion, year end). Merck KGaA / Bio-Techne and the AES take-private are guided to late 2026 or early 2027. Every one of these dates is the companies’ own guidance as of October 2026 and can move when an approval is delayed.

Which pending M&A deals are being challenged by regulators?

No federal agency has sued to block a merger in 2026. The active challenges are from state attorneys general: thirteen states and DirecTV are litigating Nexstar / Tegna, with trial set for July 9, 2027, and twelve states sued over Paramount / Warner Bros. Discovery before settling, with court approval on September 30, 2026. Four large deals are under extended review through Second Requests rather than lawsuits: Fox / Roku, Fertitta / Caesars, Boston Scientific / Penumbra and ICE / MarketAxess.

How many announced M&A deals are still pending?

This tracker lists 20 pending deals worth about $530 billion as of October 14, 2026, counting NextEra / Dominion at its press-derived value, plus nine smaller pending deals between $5 billion and $9 billion in the sortable table. Eight deals from the previous list closed between August 14 and October 6, 2026, including Paramount / Warner Bros. Discovery, Charter / Cox and the Equity Residential / AvalonBay merger of equals. One, Solstice / Element Solutions, was terminated.

When will the Union Pacific and Norfolk Southern merger be decided?

Not before 2027. The Surface Transportation Board accepted the revised application on May 28, 2026, held the case in abeyance over the summer, then lifted the abeyance on August 18, 2026 and set a schedule: comments and protests are due November 18, 2026 and replies February 16, 2027, with a public hearing to be scheduled afterwards. On September 18 the Board refused to dismiss the application at the request of BNSF, CSX and a shipper coalition. Once the record closes the Board has up to 90 days to issue a final decision.

Did the Paramount and Warner Bros. Discovery deal close?

Yes. Paramount Skydance completed its $110 billion enterprise-value acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery on October 6, 2026, paying $31.02 a share in cash, and the combined company now trades as Skydance under the ticker SKYD. The Justice Department had cleared the deal on June 12, 2026; twelve state attorneys general and the Writers Guild then sued to block it and had secured a trial date of March 2, 2027. Paramount announced a settlement with all of them on September 22, the court approved it on September 30 and the trial was vacated.

Which large M&A deals were blocked, withdrawn or terminated in 2025 and 2026?

The largest terminations of the past two years were not caused by regulators. Netflix’s $72 billion equity-value agreement for Warner Bros. was terminated on February 27, 2026 when WBD accepted Paramount’s higher offer, and Paramount paid Netflix’s $2.8 billion break fee. Solstice Advanced Materials and Element Solutions ended their $14.5 billion merger by mutual agreement on August 27, 2026. Couche-Tard withdrew its $47 billion bid for Seven & i in July 2025, ADNOC’s XRG abandoned its $19 billion offer for Santos in September 2025 and BBVA’s hostile bid for Banco Sabadell failed in October 2025 on a 25% acceptance rate. The one regulator-driven outcome of the period was Kroger / Albertsons ($24.6 billion), terminated on December 11, 2024 the day after a federal court enjoined it.

Key Takeaways

  • M&A deals picked up pace in 2025, gearing up steam into 2026, with a trend of fewer, larger deals being driven by AI, infrastructure, and strategic scale, rather than incremental growth.
  • Buyers and investors are moving quickly, even in the face of continued headwinds of regulation, rates, and geopolitics, with a focus on high-quality assets where consolidation, technology, and valuation create outsized opportunities.

Deal-making has increased in all sectors and regions in 2025. Moreover, Europe has also seen active M&A deals, such as the acquisition of Vodafone Italia by Swisscom, which shows that consolidation is still an option despite intense regulatory pressures.

Nevertheless, the headwinds of rates, regulations, and geopolitics continue to impact M&A. Buyers and sellers are adjusting to these changes while executing the M&A process. This shows that the M&A pipeline is gearing up for a strong 2026.

Investment banking firms play a vital role in managing M&A deals, especially when the deals are intricate in nature. This helps businesses overcome hurdles while executing the M&A process.

As the M&A process is changing, it’s imperative that businesses stay ahead of the curve. The DealRoom M&A Platform is a platform that can help businesses execute mergers and acquisitions. This platform can help businesses overcome all M&A process hurdles while executing a smooth M&A process.

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