November’s US M&A tape did not look busy. It did, however, look big. A handful of multi-billion-dollar deals in consumer health, cancer diagnostics, industrials, and AI infrastructure underscored how 2025’s deal cycle is being driven by scale, category leadership, and infrastructure for an AI-intensive economy.
Global megadeals — transactions of $10 billion or more — have already hit a record 63 this year, according to LSEG data reported by the Financial Times, as US President Donald Trump’s deregulatory push and easing trade tensions with China lowered some of the perceived regulatory and macro risk around large combinations.
At the same time, the latest monthly scorecards from law firms and banks show a familiar pattern: overall deal values rising on the back of large transactions, while deal counts remain well below pre-2022 levels, and private equity contributes a smaller slice of total activity than in the last cycle.
Against that backdrop, November’s US deal news was dominated by five stories that will shape boardroom conversations well into 2026.
Fewer deals, bigger bets —
The 2025 deal environment is increasingly bifurcated.
On one side, global megadeals have surged, helped by more accommodative US antitrust enforcement and fading fears of a prolonged trade war, with advisers describing a “window” in which boards feel they can finally pursue long-planned strategic moves.
On the other, the broader M&A market remains selective. October data — the latest full month available — show global deal counts falling while aggregate value rose, driven by a small cluster of large transactions, with US-targeted deals accounting for a significant share of that value. Private equity deal flow, in particular, is below earlier peaks, reflecting higher financing costs and more demanding LPs.
Within the US, three themes cut across November’s largest deals:
- Consumer and healthcare consolidation as corporates look for more predictable cashflows and brand power.
- AI-driven infrastructure build-out, especially around power and cooling for data centres.
- Continued portfolio reshaping and take-privates, often funded by sponsors willing to pay for hard assets and cash-generative businesses.
Five deals that defined November —
Kimberly-Clark’s $48.7 billion move for Kenvue —
Kimberly-Clark’s agreement to acquire Kenvue — the Johnson & Johnson consumer health spin-off behind Tylenol, Listerine, Neutrogena, Band-Aid, and other household brands — was November’s headline grabber. The cash-and-stock deal values Kenvue at about $48.7 billion, or roughly $21.01 per share, a 46% premium to its prior close, and will create a consumer health group with around $32 billion in combined annual revenue and 10 billion-dollar brands.
Both are US-based companies, and the combined group will be headquartered in Irving, Texas, with Kenvue retaining a significant operational footprint in New Jersey.
Kimberly-Clark chair and CEO Mike Hsu framed the logic in straightforward terms: “We are excited to bring together two iconic companies to create a global health and wellness leader. Kenvue is uniquely positioned at the intersection of CPG and healthcare, with exceptional talent and a differentiated brand offering serving attractive consumer health categories.”
Strategically, the deal doubles down on categories that, while exposed to occasional litigation and pricing pressure, offer resilient demand and the opportunity to apply Kimberly-Clark’s commercial “playbook” across a larger portfolio. It is also a bet that controversy around Tylenol and talc-related claims can be managed over time.
For business leaders, this transaction is a reminder that portfolio carve-outs can quickly become acquisition targets — and that scale in consumer health remains highly prized.
Abbott buys Exact Sciences in a $21 billion cancer bet —
Abbott’s $21 billion all-cash deal for Exact Sciences pulls one of the most prominent pure-play cancer diagnostics businesses into a diversified US healthcare group. Under the terms, Exact shareholders receive $105 per share, implying an enterprise value of around $23 billion once net debt is included.
Exact brings market-leading brands such as Cologuard and Oncotype DX, as well as a fast-growing pipeline in liquid biopsy and multi-cancer early detection. Abbott, for its part, gains a growth vertical in a US cancer screening and precision oncology market it sizes at roughly $60 billion.
Abbott’s CEO Robert Ford highlighted the complementarity of the portfolios, stressing that Exact’s innovation and “strong brand and customer-focused execution” would expand Abbott’s impact in cancer diagnostics.
In strategic terms, the deal illustrates how large US acquirers are using M&A to enter high-growth adjacencies rather than relying solely on internal R&D. It also reinforces a wider November pattern: paying up for specialised, IP-rich assets in markets with long-term demographic tailwinds.
AkzoNobel and Axalta: a $25 billion trans-Atlantic coatings giant —
While AkzoNobel is Dutch, Axalta is US-based — and their agreed all-stock merger of equals is structured around a dual headquarters in Amsterdam and Philadelphia, with an eventual sole listing on the NYSE.
The transaction values Axalta at roughly $9.2 billion in equity, creating a combined coatings company with an enterprise value of about $25 billion, pro-forma revenues of $17 billion, and targeted annual cost savings of $600 million within three years.
This is classic cross-border industrial logic: more geographic reach, broader sector coverage (from automotive refinishing to aerospace and marine), and the chance to rationalise overlapping manufacturing and R&D footprints.
It is also contentious. Activist investor Artisan Partners has urged Axalta shareholders to reject the deal, arguing publicly that the proposed exchange ratio undervalues the US company and that better alternatives may exist.
For US executives, the Axalta story captures two realities: trans-Atlantic industrial consolidation is very much back on the table, but shareholder approval cannot be assumed, even for paper-heavy mergers pitched as “equals”.
For the European perspective, read our November 2025 Europe M&A roundup.
CD&R’s Sealed Air take-private: private equity still in the game —
Private equity is quieter than it was at the peak of the cheap-money era, but it has not left the field. In mid-November, Clayton, Dubilier & Rice agreed to take US packaging group Sealed Air private, in a deal valuing the equity at around $6.2 billion and the business at roughly $10.3 billion including debt.
The transaction gives CD&R control of a company with a global footprint, ranging from food packaging to protective shipping materials, and significant exposure to manufacturing and logistics customers. S&P Ratings noted that leverage will rise materially post-deal, but described the transaction as consistent with private equity’s push into cash-generative industrial assets with room for operational improvement.
In the context of November’s megadeals, Sealed Air shows that sponsors remain willing to write large cheques for US assets when three conditions are met: predictable cashflows, identifiable cost and efficiency upside, and a clear path to exit once rates stabilise.
Eaton’s $9.5 billion Boyd Thermal bet on AI cooling —
Power-management company Eaton, legally domiciled in Ireland but long run as a US-centric group, announced a $9.5 billion deal to acquire the Boyd Thermal business from Goldman Sachs Asset Management. Boyd’s thermal division, headquartered in the US, supplies liquid cooling components and systems for data centres, aerospace, and other industrial markets, and is forecast to generate $1.7 billion in sales for 2026, $1.5 billion of which is in liquid cooling.
The price equates to around 22.5 times Boyd Thermal’s estimated 2026 adjusted EBITDA — a rich multiple that underlines how strategic buyers are prepared to pay up for scarce, high-growth infrastructure assets linked to AI.
Eaton CEO Paulo Ruiz said that “bringing together Boyd Thermal’s highly-engineered liquid cooling technology and global service model with Eaton’s existing products and scale will provide enhanced value to customers,” adding that their combined expertise in power and cooling would help data centre operators manage surging energy demands.
Eaton’s move came the same week that Vertiv, another US-listed data centre equipment group, agreed to buy PurgeRite, an HVAC services firm, for about $1 billion to bolster its liquid-cooling services. Together, these deals send a clear signal: data-centre cooling is becoming a strategic chokepoint in the AI economy, and US-linked consolidators intend to own as much of that stack as regulators will allow.
The mood of the market —
Taken together, November’s US-linked deals point to four broad sentiment signals:
- Animal spirits are back at the top end. The FT now counts 63 global $10 billion-plus deals in 2025, a record. Bankers describe a “once-in-a-cycle” opportunity as boards race to complete long-discussed combinations while valuations, financing, and regulation are all reasonably supportive.
- Strategic corporates are driving the tape. Kimberly-Clark, Abbott, AkzoNobel, Eaton, and others are deploying strong balance sheets and investment-grade paper to secure assets that would have been contested by private equity in earlier cycles. Sponsors remain active, as CD&R’s Sealed Air deal shows, but are more selective, particularly at the larger end of the market.
- AI infrastructure is a horizontal theme. Eaton/Boyd and Vertiv/PurgeRite are overtly about liquid cooling. But the same AI-driven demand story helps explain deals across power, packaging, and logistics, where reliable infrastructure and resilient supply chains are prerequisites for always-on digital businesses.
- Regulatory risk is being priced as manageable, not prohibitive. Dealmakers explicitly link the latest wave of megadeals to a more M&A-friendly US antitrust stance under the current administration. That does not mean scrutiny has disappeared — witness investor pushback on Akzo/Axalta and continuing FTC activism in other areas — but large transactions are no longer assumed to be dead on arrival.
For US corporate leaders, the result is a market that rewards decisive, thesis-driven M&A and punishes half-hearted moves.
Lessons for the board —
Be clear whether you are a consolidator or a target
Kimberly-Clark’s acquisition of Kenvue, and Abbott’s move on Exact, show that category leaders are willing to pay large premiums for assets that deepen their strategic moats. Conversely, those that have already spun out businesses — as Johnson & Johnson did with Kenvue — need to assume those assets may be sold again if performance falters.
Treat AI-era infrastructure as a strategic, not purely operational, issue
Deals like Eaton/Boyd and Vertiv/PurgeRite make clear that cooling, power, and related infrastructure are now boardroom topics, not just capex line items. Boards in any data-intensive sector — from banking to retail — should understand their exposure to power and cooling constraints, and whether M&A, partnerships, or long-term contracts are needed to secure capacity.
Expect more sponsor interest in “boring but beautiful” industrials
Sealed Air sits in a category often dismissed as low-growth packaging. Yet its cashflows and footprint across food and logistics make it attractive to sponsors looking for operational levers rather than macro bets. If your business shares those traits — recurring revenue, scope for efficiency, and hard assets — you are likely on someone’s list.
Build shareholder and stakeholder alignment early
Akzo/Axalta shows how quickly an activist shareholder can seek to derail even a well-trailed “merger of equals.” Boards considering transformative deals should be clear on value creation logic, governance, and listing strategy before going public, and they should war-game reactions from activists, employees, and regulators in parallel.
Do not mistake today’s window for a new permanent normal
Dealmakers repeatedly stress that today’s combination of robust corporate balance sheets, lower perceived regulatory risk, and stabilising rates is unusual. The FT’s megadeal data make the point: boards are acting now because they are not sure this window will stay open. That logic cuts both ways. If you are delaying necessary portfolio reshaping or strategic acquisitions, competitors may move first.
You must be logged in to post a comment.