Electricity grids, homebuilding capacity, industrial controls, corporate travel systems, and vaccine science do not sit naturally in the same sentence. In May 2026, they did. The month’s largest US-linked mergers and acquisitions were spread across different sectors, but they shared a common commercial logic: buyers were paying for assets that control scarce capacity, hard-to-replicate infrastructure, or specialist capability.
That gave the month a sharper character than headline deal value alone would suggest. Strategic buyers were active, although the strongest transactions were not built on cheap leverage or abstract synergy claims. They were anchored in markets where demand is already pressing against supply: data centres need power, households need new homes, manufacturers need measurement and control systems, corporate travel platforms need automation, and drugmakers need future growth options beyond today’s strongest products.
Global dealmaking also had more momentum behind it. Goldman Sachs president John Waldron said in late May that M&A volumes in 2026 were on course to approach the 2021 record, with corporate activity driving the market. In the US-linked deal tape, capital was available, but it moved most decisively towards assets that gave buyers greater control over capacity, capability, or future demand.
The five largest and most strategically revealing deals showed where that conviction was concentrated.
Power becomes the prize —
NextEra Energy and Dominion Energy agreed a $66.8 billion all-stock combination that would create one of the world’s largest regulated electric utility businesses. Dominion shareholders are set to receive 0.8138 NextEra shares for each Dominion share, leaving NextEra shareholders with approximately 74.5% of the combined company and Dominion shareholders with around 25.5%.
The deal sits directly inside the strain building across the US power system. AI data-centre expansion, industrial electrification, and broader grid investment needs have sharpened competition for generation, transmission, and regulated utility scale. Dominion brings exposure to Virginia and the Carolinas, including markets central to data-centre growth, while NextEra adds a large generation and infrastructure platform. John Ketchum, chairman, president, and chief executive of NextEra Energy, said: “Electricity demand is rising faster than it has in decades.”
Approval will not be straightforward. The companies expect the deal to close in 12 to 18 months, subject to shareholder approvals, Hart-Scott-Rodino clearance, Federal Energy Regulatory Commission approval, and Nuclear Regulatory Commission approval. NextEra has committed $2.25 billion in customer bill credits, tying the transaction’s case to customer economics as well as shareholder scale.
Berkshire expands in housing —
Berkshire Hathaway agreed to acquire Taylor Morrison Home for $72.50 per share in cash, valuing Taylor Morrison’s equity at approximately $6.8 billion and giving the transaction an enterprise value of about $8.5 billion. The offer represented a 24% premium to Taylor Morrison’s closing share price on 29 May 2026.
As Berkshire’s first multibillion-dollar takeover under Greg Abel, the acquisition carries a succession marker as well as a housing-market signal. Taylor Morrison operates across multiple US markets and adds site-built housing capacity to a group that already owns Clayton Homes, building-products businesses, and mortgage-related operations.
Housing remains a cyclical sector, but land availability, affordability pressure, construction costs, and mortgage-rate sensitivity have kept supply in focus. Berkshire’s balance sheet gives it room to hold through cycles, while Taylor Morrison adds operating scale in a market where patient capital can absorb volatility more easily than highly leveraged buyers.
AI enters corporate travel —
Long Lake Management agreed to acquire American Express Global Business Travel in an all-cash deal valued at approximately $6.3 billion. Shareholders are set to receive $9.50 per share, a 60.2% premium to Amex GBT’s closing share price on 1 May and a 65.1% premium to its 30-day volume-weighted average price.
Amex GBT brings a large corporate travel, expense, meetings, and events platform, with enterprise relationships and workflow data that private capital can use as a base for automation. Long Lake’s thesis is that AI can improve booking, disruption management, administration, and customer service across a market still shaped by fragmented systems and high-touch support needs. Alex Taubman, co-founder and chief executive of Long Lake, said: “The future of business travel will be defined by AI and human agents working seamlessly together.”
Take-private activity has often been associated with cost reduction, but this deal points to a more operational model. Long Lake is buying a mature platform with existing customers, then applying AI to workflows that are repetitive, data-rich, and difficult for clients to replace quickly.
Industrial controls draw capital —
AMETEK agreed to acquire the instrumentation businesses of Indicor from Clayton, Dubilier & Rice for about $5 billion in cash. The portfolio designs and manufactures mission-critical solutions for industrial and scientific applications, generates approximately $1.1 billion in annual sales, and is set to be integrated into AMETEK’s Electronic Instruments Group and Electromechanical Group.
Measurement, testing, consumables, services, and aftermarket support sit close to customer operations, which gives specialist industrial assets durability beyond headline order volumes. David A. Zapico, chairman and chief executive of AMETEK, called Indicor “an exceptional fit for AMETEK”.
Other May transactions reinforced demand for the operating systems behind physical infrastructure. Autodesk agreed to buy MaintainX for about $3.6 billion, adding maintenance and operations software to its design and construction platform, while Parker-Hannifin agreed to acquire CIRCOR’s commercial and defence aerospace business for $2.55 billion. Across those deals, buyers paid for installed bases, technical knowledge, and critical workflow positions rather than simple market share.
Pharma buys prevention pipelines —
Eli Lilly agreed to acquire Curevo, LimmaTech Biologics, and Vaccine Company in transactions worth up to $3.8 billion combined. The acquisitions give Lilly pipeline exposure across shingles, Staphylococcus aureus, and Epstein-Barr virus vaccine programmes.
Curevo shareholders could receive up to $1.5 billion in cash, including upfront and milestone-based payments. Vaccine Company shareholders could receive up to $1.55 billion, while LimmaTech shareholders could receive up to $780 million, with payments tied to clinical, regulatory, and commercial milestones.
Lilly’s current financial strength has been shaped by demand for obesity and diabetes medicines, and the acquisitions channel part of that momentum into infectious-disease prevention. Daniel M. Skovronsky, chief scientific and product officer and president of Lilly Research Laboratories, said the acquisitions reflect a strategy to “prevent disease at its source”.
Clinical assets carry a different risk profile from regulated utilities or homebuilding platforms. Their value depends on trial outcomes, regulatory progress, and commercial adoption that cannot be secured on signing day. Lilly’s May acquisitions therefore sit at the speculative end of the month’s deal spectrum, but they still follow the same capital-allocation pattern: buy capabilities that would take years to build internally, then use corporate scale to advance them.
Market read —
May’s US-linked M&A market was confident, but disciplined. The largest transactions did not cluster around consumer optimism or speculative technology narratives. They sat in categories where demand is visible and the cost of delay is rising: power infrastructure, housing capacity, corporate travel workflows, industrial controls, aerospace systems, maintenance software, and vaccine science.
Corporate buyers led the tone of the month. Private capital was important, particularly in the Amex GBT deal and CD&R’s sale of Indicor, yet the strongest signal came from strategic acquirers choosing where they needed more direct control. NextEra is seeking utility scale during a data-centre power boom. Berkshire is adding homebuilding capacity. AMETEK and Parker are deepening technical industrial positions. Lilly is expanding its research base in prevention.
Regulatory pressure also shaped the market’s character. NextEra and Dominion will need energy, antitrust, nuclear, state-level, and shareholder approvals. Healthcare acquisitions will pass through competition review. Housing consolidation will be watched against affordability and supply concerns. Large transactions now need operating commitments that can stand up to scrutiny, particularly where deals touch customer bills, essential services, healthcare assets, or market concentration.
Bottom line —
May’s US-linked M&A market was shaped by capacity rather than exuberance. The strongest buyers paid for assets that help them control bottlenecks: electricity generation and transmission, residential construction scale, enterprise travel workflows, industrial measurement, and vaccine science. The sectors differed, but the transaction logic was consistent.
NextEra is buying scale for a power system under strain. Berkshire is expanding a housing platform while supply remains constrained. Long Lake is taking a corporate travel platform private to apply AI to service delivery. AMETEK is deepening its exposure to technical instrumentation and aftermarket revenue. Lilly is buying scientific optionality in infectious disease prevention.
Execution risk remains high. Utility combinations depend on regulatory trust and customer economics. Homebuilder acquisitions depend on disciplined integration across rate cycles. AI-led service transformations need automation that improves complex workflows without weakening customer relationships. Industrial acquisitions rely on the retention of specialised knowledge. Biotech deals depend on clinical outcomes that remain uncertain at signing.
May therefore showed conviction without easy dealmaking. US-linked buyers were prepared to act at scale, but the strongest cases were attached to assets that defend relevance through infrastructure, capability, or future demand.
Four takeaways —
First, scarcity is carrying a premium where assets are difficult to replicate quickly, from regulated power networks to housing capacity and industrial control systems.
Second, AI is shaping acquisition strategy beyond software, pulling electricity demand, corporate travel operations, maintenance workflows, and industrial infrastructure into the same investment cycle.
Third, balance-sheet strength is separating active buyers from constrained competitors, allowing companies such as Berkshire and Lilly to move while others remain selective.
Finally, regulation is part of transaction design, particularly where deals touch power bills, housing supply, healthcare pipelines, or essential industrial capability.
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