The arms race in artificial intelligence has increased the probability of a merger and acquisition agreement for more than US $ 100,000 million For this same time next year, according to the main Barclays PLC negotiator.
“There will be transactions that will challenge our imagination within the broad spectrum of AI,” said Andrew Woeber, global director of mergers and acquisitions of the British credit entity, in an interview. “They are not surprised to see an agreement of more than US $ 100,000 million next year. The big platforms are going to make great bets.”
Technology companies such as XAI Corp. of Elon Musk and Meta Platforms Inc. have already compromised billions of dollars in capital to invest in data and infrastructure centers related to boost the AI boom. Morgan Stanley estimates that this expense could exceed US $ 3 billion in the next three years.
If a 12 -digit agreement was completed, it would be the largest in any sector since the acquisition of Time Warner Inc. by AT&T Inc. For around US $ 110,000 million, including debt, which was completed in 2018, as shown by Bloomberg data.
Large transactions will not be limited to the AI industry, according to Woeber, who said that Executive Directors and Board Rooms in general are looking beyond the uncertainty of the markets and thinking about strategic agreements that can boost growth.
Companies around the world have announced agreements for more than US $ 1 billion since June, challenging the usual slowdown of the summer months. This is the highest figure for this period from the 2021 record. This period includes the largest agreement announced to date in 2025: the Union Pacific Corp. Agreement to acquire the Norfolk Southern Corp. railway operator for more than US $ 80,000 million, including debt.
Goldman Sachs Group Inc. also provides for a significant increase in the negotiation of agreements towards the end of the year, with the possibility that 2026 is a record year in mergers and acquisitions. The bank foresees a flow of operations of around US $ 3.1 billion worldwide, which will amount to US $ 3.9 billion next, according to Tim Ingrassia, co -president of Goldman’s global mergers and acquisitions, at a conference held this week in London.
The increase in the negotiation of agreements marks a significant change with respect to the first months of the year, when the volatility promoted by the commercial wars of US President Donald Trump stopped the initial enthusiasm around mergers and acquisitions. This impulse has remained in September. This same week, Capvest Partners agreed to acquire control of the German pharmaceuticals Stada Arzneimittel AG, while Kraft Heinz Co. announced their division into two companies that will quote on a stock market to optimize their operations.
“Our clients’ mood has clearly changed from caution to trust and action,” Woeber said. “In recent months, we have observed an important acceleration in the transaction activity, which continues to grow.”
Woeber is a former CenterView Partners man who has also held high positions in Greenhill & Co. and Morgan Stanley. He joined Barclays earlier this year as part of the bank’s plan to strengthen his advice business after losing ground in front of his competitors.
Under the direction of Cathal Deasy and Taylor Wright, global investment banking co -directors, Barclays has been capturing bankers, especially those specialized in energy transition, industry, health and technology. Barclays was in the eighth place among fusion and acquisition advisors this year, with a market share of 7.8 %, and managing operations worth US $ 217,000 million, according to data collected by Bloomberg.
There are indications that these efforts are paying fruit. The Bank has participated in some of the most important operations of this year, such as the purchase of the Wiz Inc. cybersecurity startup by Alphabet Inc. for US $ 32,000 million and the acquisition of Calpine Corp. by Constellation Energy Corp. for about US $ 29,000 million, including debt. Woeber said that the list of possible transactions in which the bank grows grows rapidly.
