Utility

PwC, Italia can become a European hub for energy infrastructure and AI

According to the PwC Global & Italian M&A Trends in Energy, Utilities & Resources and Outlook 2026: the study shows an increase in extraordinary transactions in these sectors

6 May 2026

2' min read

Translated by AI

Versione italiana

2' min read

Translated by AI

Versione italiana

Artificial intelligence, data centres, electrification and - a must these days -energy security. These are the key themes that emerge from the PwC Global & Italian M&A Trends in Energy, Utilities & Resources and Outlook 2026 analysis, a meaty report that highlights how "globally, these sectors have confirmed a structural change in 2025 and early 2026, driven by increased demand for electricity, water resources and essential raw materials". According to Gianpaolo Chimenti, Partner PwC Italia and EU&R Strategy Leader, this is a "structural, not simply cyclical, change. The energy transition, the sector's main vector of transformation, has now been joined by the emerging energy needs generated by artificial intelligence and the progressive expansion of data centre infrastructures'. And Italia? "It has the conditions to establish itself as a high-potential European hub for the development of energy and digital infrastructures dedicated to the delivery of AI services with M&A as a fundamental implementation lever". Precisely in our country, observes the expert, the outlook 2026 indicates a greater liveliness of M&A, with a focus on infrastructural and industrial assets of high strategic relevance and a growing involvement of industrial operators and financial investors in consolidation, partnership and portfolio rebalancing operations.

M&A leap in 2025

In short M&A emerging as a strategic lever for competitive positioning, new production capacity and accelerated transformation. In particular, the analysis conducted by PwC shows that in 2025, M&A transactions in the EU&R sectors globally reached a total value of $564 billion, registering an increase of +27% compared to 2024. The growth was driven by 20 megadeals (i.e. transactions over USD 5 billion), up sharply from the 6 recorded in 2024.

Private Equity recorded +35% in value (USD 204 billion), thanks to better financing conditions and private debt as a flexible instrument for complex, capital-intensive assets.

Also in Italia, in 2025 the EU&R sectors show solid transaction volumes with 132 deals (compared to 129 in 2024): the Corporate component remains prevalent with 85 deals (65% of the total) the Private Equity component registers a significant acceleration, with 47 deals concluded.

The deals in 'Power&Utilities' to consolidate the market

Power & Utilities dominates with 72 deals (60% of the total), driven by consolidations, secondary trading on renewables, interest in biomethane (decarbonisation and diversification) and LNG. The reason? The strong fragmentation of the market, both in the Utilities sector (primarily retail Gas & Power) and in Renewable Energies, which continues to favour consolidation processes geared towards optimising operational efficiency, reducing costs and exploiting economies of scale. In Oil & Gas, on the other hand, M&A activity, which was stable in Italia in terms of number of transactions, was driven by consolidation targets in the downstream and energy infrastructures, with a prevalence of acquisitions and reinforcements of holdings in fuel networks, fuel distribution, bunkering and strategic oil assets.