2026 Outlooks

Private equity is primed for a resurgence in 2026. We’ve seen heightened pressure to divest aging portfolio assets, driven by limited partner demands for return of capital and increasingly favorable exit conditions.”

Jeff Jacobs, Head of M&A and COO of Investment Banking
Quoted in Mergers & Acquisitions

The third quarter [of 2025] was stronger than people anticipated, but the fourth quarter has just been gangbusters, just really very strong. Going into 2026, people are very optimistic. 2026 is going to be even better.”

Mark Boidman, Head of Media & Entertainment
Quoted in Adweek

Some really large players in the dental space have been owned by private equity funds for a long time, and they’re going to look for some exit options or some liquidity options. Those will be groundbreaking for the sector in terms of new people coming into the space from an investment perspective.”

Karan Garg, Partner, Healthcare Services
Quoted in Dental Bite

We anticipate a bifurcation of performance among issuers in the US middle market in 2026. That dynamic will result in an opportunity set comprised of complicated top-of-the-stack senior financings, as well as an increase in liability management transactions. Our team is well positioned to add value if this development comes to fruition.”

Vinod Chandiramani, Head of Capital Advisory

The M&A outlook for Software, Data and Analytics in 2026 remains positive. Corporates and financial sponsors are doubling down on AI-enabled capabilities, real-time decisioning and proprietary data as foundational strategic assets. Despite a complex macro backdrop, we are seeing increasingly constructive buyer behavior, active mergers & acquisitions engagement, and a supportive valuation environment for scalable, differentiated platforms.”

Craig Muir, Head of Technology

2026 is set to be a strong year for Financial Institutions M&A, with robust activity in distribution businesses—wealth management, RIAs, insurance agencies, and brokers—driven by private equity and strategics. Non-correlated assets and specialty finance remain attractive, and if rates decline further, balance-sheet businesses like lenders, and mortgage originators should see meaningful momentum.”

Arik Rashkes, Head of Financial Institutions

Healthcare M&A is set to see an acceleration of activity across most subsectors, including healthcare technology, medical devices and parts of healthcare services and life sciences. There is a significant backlog of deals waiting to come out, which will be supported by narrowing valuation gaps, renewed investor confidence, and continued pressure on private equity to return capital.”

Jon Hammack, Head of Healthcare

With momentum building over the past two years, we expect private equity exits to increase again next year. As rate cuts take hold, tariff policy clarifies, and valuation gaps narrow, nearly $1 trillion in dry powder and a backlog of older assets should drive increased activity year over year.”

Sash Rentala, Head of Financial Sponsors

2026 M&A activity started off strong across aerospace and aviation, defense and space, and the broader mission-critical industrials markets. These sectors were buoyed in 2025 by strong demand, steady government and commercial spending, and investor interest in high spec suppliers.”

Larry Gelwix, Head of Industrials