Mergers and acquisitions at the turning point. The firms' approach also changes

Nevertheless, 2025 was an excellent year for Italy's M&A, with significant increases in both value and number of deals. "However, geopolitical tensions and uncertainties in economic and trade policy have generated more caution among investors," says Stefano Sciolla, managing partner of Latham & Watkins.

Many major trends, but few mega deals. "So-called 'mega deals' are scarce. The government's 'Golden Power' is very intense in this period; in general, in some sectors it is difficult - for example in the software sector where the impact of Ai has put some operators in crisis; while in others there is a boom of interest, such as in data centres," says Paolo Ghiglione, partner at Baker McKenzie.

Multinationals are very active. "Acquisitions almost always respond to a precise logic: technological need, vertical integration, supply chain strengthening or geographical expansion," Catalano points out. "The largest operations have seen a greater presence of corporate operators while financial investors have prevailed in the mid and small market," notes Gianluca Ghersini, partner at Gianni & Origoni.

Private equity remains one of the market drivers. "The increased selectivity of private equity in Italia is not a sign of weakness but of discipline: funds are investing more, on higher quality deals. Although fundraising slowed in 2025, dry powder remains at record levels, and the debt market continues to be favourable, albeit in waves dictated by the irrationality of certain geopolitical moves,' Sciolla points out.

In 2025, M& A and private equity activity was all in all positive. "We saw an increase in deals involving industrial buyers, while in private equity there were numerous build-up deals. The geopolitical landscape slowed down and in some cases prevented some cross-border deals and generally caused uncertainty with respect to the outlook with an impact on deal valuation. The first months of 2026 have shown greater caution among operators compared to 2025,' Ghersini notes.

Finally, among the trends in the spotlight are generational transitions. "They are," continues Paolo Ghiglione, "a component of the liveliness of our M& market. But they are not the only one. Often insufficient business size and poor exposure to international markets can be a brake on growth, if not a threat to the very survival of the company. Only the help of new finance and investors is sometimes able to give oxygen to the sick, and make it healthy and competitive again'.