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ARTICLE · 17 DECEMBER 2025

Middle Eastern Sovereign Wealth Funds Boost Regional M&A

A&O Shearman
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While global M&A volumes fell in 2025, in the Middle East they rose sharply.

GlobalCorporate/Commercial Law
Ben Ward
Ben Ward
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While global M&A volumes fell in 2025, in the Middle East they rose sharply. Many of the biggest investments involved the region's sovereign wealth funds, which pursued strategic transactions in AI, semiconductors and data centers amid closer ties with the U.S.

Middle East: M&A in 2025 hits three-year high

Overall deal value is highest since 2022 after record H1 performance

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M&A activity within the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC, which comprises Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Qatar, Kuwait, Bahrain, and Oman) defied the global trend in 2025 as both deal value and deal transaction count to December 1 were higher than the totals for 2024 (USD72.7 billion over 554 transactions, up 170% and 2.6% respectively).

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