Summer Deal Surge Hits $1.1 Trillion as Regulators Tighten Merger Rules

Global merger-and-acquisition activity has sharply accelerated over the summer, with about $1.1 trillion in transactions announced since June, according to market data cited by research firm Tenet. Almost $300 billion of that total was unveiled in August alone, making the period the most active summer for dealmaking since 2021. The burst of corporate dealmaking comes as competition authorities on both sides of the Atlantic move to modernise their merger-control regimes. In Europe, the European Commission on 8 May launched a sweeping review of its 2004 horizontal and 2008 non-horizontal merger guidelines, issuing seven discussion papers that examine issues such as digitalisation, supply-chain resilience and defence-industry consolidation. Interested parties have until 3 September to comment. The UK Competition and Markets Authority is running a parallel consultation, proposing higher turnover thresholds, a refined share-of-supply test and procedural changes intended to inject greater pace and predictability into reviews. The agency began seeking feedback in June after earlier introducing its Mergers Charter. In the United States, law-firm analyses of second-quarter enforcement point to continued scrutiny from the Federal Trade Commission and the Department of Justice, which have signalled they will challenge deals that may suppress innovation or labour markets. Together, the regulatory moves underscore that the rebound in M&A volumes is unfolding against a backdrop of tougher, and increasingly harmonised, antitrust oversight.