US M&A deals of the month: June 2026

By the end of June, US-linked dealmaking had a hard edge: boards were paying for bottlenecks. The largest announced transactions centred on assets that decide access — code, screens, mineral reserves, laboratory workflows, and clinical pipelines — rather than on marginal expansion or loose diversification.

The pattern followed our May M&A review, which found capital moving towards infrastructure, AI, power, industrial systems, and healthcare. June carried that logic into a more concentrated month, with a small number of large transactions doing much of the work in a market where headline value continued to run ahead of deal volume.

Market conditions remained uneven. PwC’s US Deals 2026 midyear outlook put US M&A deal value at $1.2tn in the first five months of the year, nearly double the $603bn recorded over the same period in 2025, even as deal volume slipped 4%. Its global midyear analysis described a market on course for about $4tn of deal value in 2026, while volumes are projected to fall.

That gap between value and volume shaped June’s largest announcements. Financing and equity currency were available for buyers with a clear operating case, but capital stayed selective. The month’s most consequential US-linked deals were built around assets that could shorten the route to capability, scale, customer access, or future growth.

Five transactions captured the month’s direction.

AI coding moves inside the strategic core —

SpaceX entered into a merger agreement to acquire Anysphere, the company behind Cursor, in an all-stock transaction based on an implied equity value of $60bn. The agreement would see Anysphere survive as a wholly owned subsidiary of SpaceX, with closing expected in the third quarter of 2026 subject to conditions including regulatory approvals.

Cursor gives SpaceX access to a widely adopted AI coding interface, developer workflow data, and a product used by engineering teams to accelerate software development. The purchase places AI-assisted coding within the same strategic perimeter as computing capacity, engineering productivity, model performance, and proprietary workflow control.

The use of stock also shows how highly valued buyers can turn market confidence into acquisition power. A cash deal of this size would carry a different balance-sheet profile, while an equity-funded structure allows SpaceX to pursue a fast-growing software asset without the same immediate cash burden. The challenge will be preserving the product trust, engineering tempo, and developer loyalty that made Cursor valuable before acquisition.

Fox takes a larger streaming gateway —

Fox Corporation agreed to acquire Roku in a cash-and-stock transaction valued at $160 per Roku share, giving the deal an enterprise value of approximately $22bn. Under the agreement, Fox will pay $96 in cash and 0.9693 Fox Class A shares for each Roku share. Existing Fox shareholders are expected to own about 73% of the combined company, with Roku shareholders owning about 27%.

Roku brings a connected-TV platform reaching more than 100m global streaming households, alongside The Roku Channel, advertising technology, first-party data, and a direct interface with viewers. Paired with Fox’s sports, news, entertainment, and Tubi assets, the transaction deepens Fox’s position in advertising-funded streaming at a time when traditional pay-TV economics remain under pressure.

Rather than chasing scale through content alone, Fox is buying a stronger position in the connected-TV operating layer. Search, discovery, advertising inventory, viewing data, and the screen interface all influence value in a fragmented video market, especially as advertisers seek measurable audiences across streaming environments.

Platform neutrality will carry much of the integration risk. Roku has grown as a partner ecosystem that includes rival services, and Fox will need to protect that position while extracting the advantages of ownership. If partners begin to see the platform as too closely aligned with Fox’s own programming priorities, part of the asset’s strategic value could erode.

Limestone carries an infrastructure premium —

Martin Marietta Materials agreed to combine with Lhoist North America in a $13.5bn cash-and-stock transaction. The deal includes $7bn in cash and $6.5bn in Martin Marietta shares, with closing expected in the second half of 2026 subject to regulatory approvals.

Lhoist North America brings 20 quarries and production facilities, 45 distribution terminals, $1.8bn in gross sales for the year to 31 December 2025, and more than 2bn tons of high-quality limestone reserves. Martin Marietta said the reserve base represents more than 200 years of useful life, with assets positioned in high-growth Sun Belt metropolitan corridors.

Industrial materials carried a larger strategic role in June’s deal market because physical capacity is now tied closely to the investment cycle in infrastructure, energy, advanced manufacturing, and digital build-out. Limestone, lime, and specialty minerals feed into steel manufacturing, heavy construction, environmental applications, agriculture, highways, data centres, semiconductor fabrication, and LNG facilities.

Reserve ownership is difficult to replicate. Quarries require permits, distribution networks take time to build, and local customer relationships become more valuable when end-market demand is rising. Martin Marietta is adding a stronger upstream position while US reindustrialisation, infrastructure programmes, grid investment, and advanced manufacturing continue to pull capital into physical supply chains.

Merck buys deeper scientific reach —

Merck agreed to acquire Minneapolis-based Bio-Techne for $73 per share in cash, representing an enterprise value of about $11.3bn. The transaction is expected to close by late 2026 or early 2027, subject to Bio-Techne shareholder approval, regulatory approvals, and other customary conditions.

Bio-Techne supplies life science tools, analytical technologies, consumables, and workflow solutions used across research, diagnostics, bioprocessing, and advanced therapeutics. Merck expects the acquisition to expand its presence in multi-omics, spatial biology, precision diagnostics, cell therapy, and gene therapy, while delivering annual cost synergies of approximately €140m by the third year after closing.

The transaction gives Merck a broader position in the technologies and consumables that sit behind scientific research and drug development. Unlike a single-asset pharmaceutical acquisition, Bio-Techne offers exposure to laboratory workflows, bioprocessing demand, specialist analytics, and customers working across multiple therapeutic categories.

That breadth is valuable in a life sciences market shaped by more complex research methods and manufacturing requirements. Companies supplying the tools, reagents, analytics, and production systems behind biotechnology can capture demand across the sector, rather than depending on one clinical outcome. Bio-Techne adds scale in that enabling layer, while giving Merck a stronger platform for customers developing more specialised therapies.

AbbVie pays for immunology depth —

AbbVie agreed to acquire Apogee Therapeutics for $135.11 per share in cash, valuing Apogee at approximately $10.9bn. The agreement is expected to close in the third quarter of 2026, subject to Apogee shareholder approval, regulatory approvals, and other customary conditions.

Apogee adds clinical-stage candidates in inflammatory and immunological diseases, including atopic dermatitis and asthma. Its lead asset, zumilokibart, is a half-life extended monoclonal antibody targeting IL-13, while APG273 combines zumilokibart with APG333, an antibody targeting thymic stromal lymphopoietin. AbbVie said the transaction is expected to become accretive to adjusted diluted earnings per share from 2032.

Large pharmaceutical buyers continue to use balance-sheet strength to rebuild future growth in therapeutic areas where they already have commercial infrastructure and scientific depth. AbbVie’s long-standing immunology position gives it a clear route to develop, test, and eventually commercialise assets that fit within its established franchise.

The premium also reflects the uncertainty attached to clinical-stage biotech. Trial results, regulatory review, payer acceptance, dosing convenience, and physician adoption will determine whether Apogee’s assets justify the valuation over time. The acquisition gives AbbVie new pipeline options, but the return profile will be measured over years rather than quarters.

Market read —

June’s US-linked M&A market was confident where the asset solved a strategic constraint. SpaceX pursued an AI coding workflow. Fox moved for a connected-TV gateway. Martin Marietta bought reserves, terminals, and industrial materials exposure. Merck acquired life sciences tools, while AbbVie paid for immunology pipeline optionality.

Scarcity joined those deals together. The strongest targets carried qualities that cannot be copied quickly: product adoption, distribution systems, permitted physical reserves, laboratory workflows, scientific depth, or clinical assets in large disease markets. Buyers with the capacity to move were willing to pay when an acquisition offered a faster route than internal build-out.

Healthcare supplied two of the five largest deals and several important near-misses. GSK agreed to acquire US-based Nuvalent for $10.6bn, adding late-stage oncology assets for non-small cell lung cancer. CRH agreed an $8.5bn all-cash acquisition of US infrastructure materials and products company Arcosa, while Rocket Lab agreed to buy Iridium Communications for an enterprise value of about $8bn. Those transactions extended the month’s emphasis on pipelines, infrastructure, critical materials, and communications networks.

Regulatory review remains embedded in the commercial timetable. Transactions touching media distribution, healthcare innovation, industrial inputs, and satellite communications all sit in sectors where customer access, pricing, competition, and continuity will be examined closely. Large buyers need acquisition plans that can survive that scrutiny without weakening the operating case.

Strategic acquirers dominated the top end of June’s US-linked market, even as private capital continued to shape the wider environment. Sponsors still need exits, public-market valuations continue to create openings, and corporate boards are under pressure to show whether they are the best owner of a given asset. Buyers with strong equity, cash flow, or strategic urgency had room to act before the wider market fully normalised.

Bottom line —

June’s US-linked M&A market was defined by scarcity and control. Large valuations drew attention, but the underlying pattern was more disciplined than exuberant. Buyers paid for assets that could alter their position in markets where delay carries a cost: AI software, streaming distribution, industrial materials, life sciences tools, and immunology pipelines.

Compared with May, the emphasis shifted from capacity towards capability. May’s US dealmaking showed buyers paying for power, housing, industrial systems, corporate travel workflows, and healthcare pipelines. June kept the infrastructure theme intact, while adding a sharper focus on assets that influence how customers, developers, researchers, advertisers, and industrial users reach the market.

Execution now carries the weight of the deal thesis. SpaceX must preserve developer trust. Fox must retain Roku’s platform value while integrating it into a media group. Martin Marietta must convert reserve ownership into operational advantage without overextending the balance sheet. Merck must integrate scientific tools across a global life sciences platform. AbbVie must turn promising clinical assets into approved, reimbursed, and adopted medicines.

June offered no sign of indiscriminate M&A. It showed well-capitalised buyers moving decisively when an asset gave them a faster route to strategic control. The premium is flowing to companies that own scarce workflows, networks, reserves, platforms, or science.

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BQ