The Next M&A Cycle Will Reward Companies That Prepare Before They Need To

Rusty Wiley is CEO of Datasite, a leading provider of private markets tools that drive execution across the full investment lifecycle.

gettyA major shift in M&A is taking place beneath the surface: companies no longer want to wait for ideal conditions before making strategic decisions. For years, waiting made sense. Interest rate uncertainty changed deal economics, financing became more selective and regulatory and geopolitical uncertainty made large commitments harder to justify.

​Those challenges remain. Even so, executives are increasingly moving despite them because missed opportunities can create lasting competitive harm. In conversations with dealmakers, I hear management teams focus less on whether to wait and more on the consequences of inaction: which capabilities they will lack, where competitors may gain ground, which opportunities AI will open in their industries and where the next source of growth will come from.

M&A begins with a strategic problem, and executives increasingly treat uncertainty as a condition to manage, not a reason to stand still.

During periods of disruption, executives are often cautious about significant transactions. Postponement, however, carries consequences of its own. Technology is changing competitive positions faster than traditional planning cycles. Supply chains are being redesigned, energy requirements are increasing and companies across industries are reconsidering which capabilities to build internally and which to acquire.

These dynamics change the calculation for CEOs and boards. Leaders now ask whether the asset they want will still be available, whether a competitor will move first and whether waiting will leave their company farther behind.

Current market data supports this shift. Global M&A value is estimated to reach roughly $4 trillion in 2026, up 13% from 2025, even as deal volume declines. The divergence shows that buyers have become more selective while remaining willing to make significant bets when the strategic rationale is strong.

My company’s platform, which annually facilitates about 16,000 new deals, shows the same pattern. New deal projects launched on Datasite increased 31% globally year over year in the first half of 2026. Because many transactions begin on Datasite before they are publicly announced, new deal kickoffs can provide an early indicator of M&A activity and emerging deal momentum. Together, these signals show that companies are doing the work required to preserve the option to act despite market uncertainty.

Private equity remains an essential part of M&A, but corporate leaders are increasingly using transactions to acquire technology, talent, intellectual property, customers and geographic reach that could take years to develop organically. Some industrial companies are investing in automation and supply-chain resilience through M&A, while energy businesses are responding to growing infrastructure and power requirements.

​Activity on Datasite’s platform provides a supporting indicator. Corporate participation in projects on our platform increased 28% globally in the first half of 2026. Healthcare deal kickoffs increased 32%, while industrials and energy each increased 25%. The speed of strategic change is creating acquisition needs across industries, and boards are discussing those needs before attractive targets come to market.

Companies weaken their position when they treat M&A preparation as something that begins only after they decide to buy or sell. The strongest deal teams prepare earlier. They define long-term objectives, understand market opportunities and know where critical information resides.

Deal teams that prepare before a potential transaction (something my company has created a checklist for) can gain an advantage as technology compresses timelines.

Sellers need to understand the business through a buyer’s eyes. They must reconcile gaps in the data, identify contracts that will attract scrutiny, clarify which parts of the growth story will withstand diligence and address the factors that could create uncertainty around valuation.

Buyers need the same discipline. They must determine which capabilities are genuinely strategic, which assumptions would cause the company to walk away, what information is needed to test the investment thesis and who has authority to make decisions when the process accelerates.

While innovations like AI can review large volumes of information, surface potential issues and accelerate parts of diligence that once consumed days or weeks, faster analysis does not automatically produce better decisions. The advantage comes when organizations have clear diligence questions, reliable data and the governance needed to evaluate and act on what AI surfaces.​​

No CEO can predict the next 12 months of interest rates, trade policy, geopolitics or regulation with precision. Companies should prepare so they can act when the strategic case is compelling. That preparation starts with four questions:​

1. What capabilities will the company need three to five years from now that it does not have today? That conversation should happen before specific acquisition targets enter the picture.

2. Where is waiting creating competitive risk? The cost of inaction belongs in the investment case alongside the cost of capital.

3. Is the company actually ready to transact? Leaders should understand their data, governance, diligence processes and decision rights before a live opportunity puts them under pressure.

4. Where can technology shorten the path from information to decision? Leaders should identify where AI can remove manual work while maintaining appropriate controls over sensitive information.​

Companies that answer these questions early are likely to have more choices. They can acquire, divest, partner or invest organically based on what best addresses the strategic problem.

M&A markets are usually described through announced deals because those deals are visible, but executives operate on an earlier clock. The decisions shaping the next cycle are being made in strategy sessions and boardrooms now. Leaders should not wait for headlines to tell them the M&A market is back. By then, competitors will likely be several decisions ahead.​​

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