{{item.videoDuration}}
{{item.title}}
{{item.text}}
{{item.videoDuration}}
{{item.text}}
Technology, media and telecommunications (TMT) dealmaking is entering a new phase in 2026. As the AI race accelerates, companies are rethinking how they invest, partner and transact. They are reshaping portfolios, scaling digital infrastructure and repositioning business models to compete in a more capital-intensive and platform-driven environment. Against this backdrop, M&A remains a central strategic lever, increasingly complemented by partnerships and alternative deal structures designed to capture the next wave of growth. TMT leaders who act decisively—through acquisitions, partnerships or portfolio realignment—will be best positioned to gain a competitive edge as the sector enters its next phase of transformation. Read on for insights into global and Swiss TMT M&A trends.
By Lasse Stünitz, Partner, M&A TMT Leader, PwC Switzerland
Powerful shifts in technology, consumer behaviour and enterprise demand are redefining how value is created across TMT. Massive investment in AI infrastructure, continued platform consolidation in media, and telecom portfolio restructuring are driving a move from incremental optimisation toward strategic reinvention.
Three global deal themes are shaping this environment. First, take-private momentum is building as private equity and sovereign investors deploy substantial capital into scaled technology platforms they view as undervalued in public markets. Landmark 2025 transactions—including the $55bn take-private of Electronic Arts, the $12.3bn acquisition of Dayforce by Thoma Bravo, and EQT’s consortium-led acquisition of Fortnox—highlight the growing appetite for mature, category-leading assets that support multiyear value creation outside the constraints of quarterly earnings pressures.
Second, media and entertainment investment is expanding geographically, with the Middle East emerging as a strategic growth hub. National modernisation programmes such as Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030 are accelerating capital deployment into live events, sports IP and digital distribution. Sovereign-backed investment, including transactions linked to the Saudi Pro League ecosystem and global distribution platforms, signals the region’s transition into a competitive global media market and an increasingly important destination for M&A. Recent transactions also highlight the redistribution of broadcast rights across regional and global platforms, including podcast-native startup Thmanyah securing exclusive rights for the Saudi Pro League and other sporting events, alongside international distribution through players such as DAZN+, Canal+, other digital-first platforms and Twitch streamer Zack Nani.
Third, IPO markets are reopening, improving exit optionality and reinforcing capital flows into high-growth technology assets. Global IPO proceeds rose 45% to $172bn in 2025, with the US recording its strongest year since 2021 and Asia Pacific reporting more than 50% growth. Investor demand is focused on scalable technology platforms, particularly semiconductors, AI hardware and data centre infrastructure, supporting expectations of continued deal momentum into 2026.
Together, these dynamics point to a TMT deal landscape defined less by volume recovery alone and more by structural repositioning. Companies are reassessing which capabilities to own, acquire or access through partnerships as AI, digital infrastructure and audience platforms become core sources of competitive advantage.
Spotlight: how AI is changing the shape of deals
AI’s capital intensity is changing how technology companies structure transactions. Rather than relying mainly on full acquisitions, firms are increasingly using joint ventures, minority investments, long-term capacity agreements and infrastructure partnerships to secure compute capabilities, scale quickly and preserve balance sheet flexibility.
The shift reflects the scale of investment required for model training, inference and enterprise deployment. In 2025, Microsoft, Amazon and Alphabet signalled capital expenditure plans of roughly $80bn, $100bn and $80bn respectively, with a significant share directed toward AI-driven cloud and data centre infrastructure. Elevated spending is expected to continue into 2026, making capital efficiency and risk sharing strategic priorities.
As a result, transactions that might once have been full acquisitions are often structured through asset-level financing partnerships and long-term access agreements. Infrastructure and financial investors fund critical assets, while technology companies secure guaranteed capacity. These models are creating a more circular AI investment ecosystem, where a concentrated group of technology companies and capital partners rotate between roles as developers, anchor customers and investors. Investment in compute drives AI adoption, which generates demand commitments and reinvestment into further infrastructure. Oracle’s approximately $300bn Stargate initiative with OpenAI illustrates this dynamic: OpenAI anchors long-term compute demand, while Oracle invests in AI-optimised data centre infrastructure.
Long-duration capital is playing a growing role. Abu Dhabi–based Mubadala is targeting roughly $100bn in AI investments, and ADQ has committed $25bn to energy and data infrastructure supporting hyperscale deployment in the US. Other sovereign investors are making multi-billion-dollar allocations to digital infrastructure.
In 2026, M&A will remain a core strategic lever in technology, increasingly executed through a wider mix of deal structures. Financing conditions, model efficiency and corporate priorities will shape who transacts and how, rather than slowing activity. Portfolio optimisation, greater private equity participation and partnership models are expected to complement traditional acquisitions as companies adapt to AI’s capital and scale requirements.
Global M&A volumes and values in 2025
Global TMT deal values increased 49% in 2025, while volumes remained broadly flat. Technology continued to drive overall activity. The sector accounted for 84% of TMT deal volumes and 76% of deal values, and dominated megadeals, representing 26 of the 32 TMT transactions above $5bn. AI was a central strategic theme, cited in 85% of the largest corporate technology deals analysed.
Technology deal values rose 50% globally, with strong regional divergence. The Americas recorded an 82% increase, supported by a concentration of US megadeals, while Asia Pacific grew 16% and EMEA declined 15%.
Outside technology, media and entertainment deal values jumped 96%, largely driven by the Warner Bros. Discovery transaction, despite a 6% fall in volumes. Telecommunications deal values rose 8%, with activity levels broadly unchanged.
| Top ten TMT deals in 2025 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Buyer | Target | Deal value ($bn) | Sector | |
| 1 | Netflix | Warner Bros. Discovery | 82.7 | Entertainment and media |
| 2 | PIF, Silver Lake and Affinity Partners | Electronic Arts | 55.0 | Entertainment and media |
| 3 | AI Infrastructure Partnership and investor group | Aligned Data Centers | 40.0 | Technology |
| 4 | Charter Communications | Cox Communications | 34.5 | Telecommunications |
| 5 | Alphabet | Wiz | 32.0 | Technology |
| 6 | Palo Alto Networks | CyberArk Software | 25.0 | Technology |
| 7 | Nippon Telegraph & Telephone Corp | NTT Data Group | 16.3 | Telecommunications |
| 8 | Meta Platforms | ScaleAI | 14.8 | Technology |
| 9 | Thoma Bravo | Dayforce | 12.3 | Technology |
| 10 | IBM | Confluent | 11.0 | Technology |
Sources: LSEG, company press releases and PwC analysis
Global M&A trends in technology, media and telecoms
M&A developments in the Swiss TMT sector
Following the volatility observed in 2023 and 2024, M&A activity in the Swiss TMT sector in 2025 did not follow a linear recovery path, but rather a distinct stop-and-go pattern. After a strong start to the year, deal volumes softened in Q2, then recovered in Q3 and normalised towards year-end. This sequencing points less to a lack of demand and more to episodic deal execution, with activity increasingly clustering in periods where valuation expectations, financing conditions and execution certainty temporarily align. Overall, 2025 confirmed the resilience of the Swiss TMT market, but also highlighted continued sensitivity to shifts in sentiment and deal certainty.
The broader dynamics that drove the previous slowdown, global uncertainty, higher financing costs and valuation gaps, remained present throughout 2025. At the same time, improved valuation alignment and sustained strategic demand continued to support transactions, particularly in technology-driven segments, and Switzerland continued to show relative strength compared to a still subdued global TMT M&A environment.
Technology once again dominated Swiss TMT dealmaking in 2025, with deal flow concentrated in technology assets and more limited and episodic activity in media and entertainment and telecommunications. The market continued to reflect a quality dynamic, with transactions focused on resilient business models and clear strategic relevance rather than broad-based momentum.
As in prior years, software-led activity remained the backbone of Swiss TMT M&A, supported by continued interest in themes such as cloud solutions, data and analytics, cybersecurity, collaboration tools and artificial intelligence, and by ongoing consolidation potential across selected subsectors.
With valuation levels still below the peak levels seen in earlier cycles, high-quality technology assets remained attractive targets, particularly where growth resilience and clear strategic fit enabled buyers to underwrite transactions with greater conviction.
Private equity remained a central force in Swiss TMT dealmaking, and the trend within the year became more nuanced. While sponsor activity stayed structurally elevated on a full year basis, 2025 also underscored the sector’s sensitivity to financing windows and underwriting confidence. Following a very strong sponsor-driven start to the year, the subsequent moderation points to a shift from full-throttle execution toward more selective underwriting, as investors continued to calibrate leverage assumptions, exit expectations and pricing discipline. Even so, compared to most other Swiss industries, where private equity participation is typically closer to but still below half of transactions, TMT continues to stand out as a preferred sector for buyout activity, supported by significant dry powder and the continued availability of scalable technology assets.
Cross-border activity remained a defining characteristic of the Swiss TMT market. Foreign buyers continued to account for the majority of transactions, underlining Switzerland’s sustained international appeal as a hub for high-quality technology assets. Importantly, the 2025 pattern also suggests that cross-border demand is comparatively stable through softer quarters, reflecting the fact that many Swiss TMT acquisitions are driven by international portfolio logic and strategic capability agendas rather than purely domestic cycles. This reinforces the sector’s strong integration into global M&A flows and its ability to attract buyer interest even when local sentiment temporarily weakens.
Similarly, non-TMT buyers continued to drive a significant share of Swiss TMT deal activity. Cross-sector participation remained elevated, reflecting TMT’s role as the key enabler of digital transformation across the broader economy. At the same time, 2025 also showed signs of a late-year shift, with industry-native TMT buyers becoming more visible toward year end, an important signal that traditional consolidation and sector-specific strategic agendas may strengthen as confidence and execution conditions stabilise. Taken together, these dynamics point to a market where cross-sector demand remains structurally strong, but where improving stability can bring a broader mix of buyers back into play.
“Swiss TMT dealmaking in 2025 showed a clear stop-and-go pattern rather than a straight recovery, reflecting continued valuation discipline and selective underwriting. Even so, demand for high-quality technology assets remained resilient. In 2026, I expect improving alignment and strong structural drivers such as AI and digital transformation to support a more consistent and gradually strengthening deal environment.”
Lasse Stünitz,Partner, M&A TMT Leader, PwC Switzerland2026 M&A outlook for tech, media and telecoms
Looking ahead to 2026, we expect Swiss TMT M&A activity to move from stabilisation toward selective acceleration. While macro uncertainty and financing discipline are likely to persist, improving valuation alignment and stronger execution confidence should support a more consistent deal flow than the stop-and-go pattern seen in 2025.
Activity is expected to remain focused on technology-led assets, with software and tech-enabled services continuing to attract the strongest interest, particularly in cloud, data and analytics, cybersecurity and AI. Media and entertainment and telecommunications are likely to remain more episodic and driven by asset-specific catalysts.
Private equity should remain highly active, supported by significant dry powder and a continued focus on scalable, recurring revenue models. Strategic activity is also expected to strengthen, both from domestic and international buyers, as corporates re-engage in targeted transformational transactions. Overall, we expect a constructive 2026 backdrop, characterised by selective acceleration in the most attractive subsectors and situations.
Explore our industry insights on global M&A in 2026.
Gain a deeper understanding of the forces reshaping dealmaking—from AI-driven transformation and megadeals to a more polarised M&A market—and what they mean for strategy, value creation and execution.
{{filterContent.facetedTitle}}
{{contentList.dataService.numberHits}} {{contentList.dataService.numberHits == 1 ? 'result' : 'results'}}
{{contentList.loadingText}}
{{contentList.loadingText}}
Contact
Lasse Stünitz