US companies spent more money on deals in 2026 than in any recent year on record. The numbers are striking: SpaceX bought xAI at a combined valuation of $1.25 trillion, two of the largest apartment landlords in the country merged into one company, and a handful of pharmaceutical companies spent over $67 billion acquiring drug pipelines.
Some of these deals have closed. Others are working through courts or waiting on regulators. This article compiles the top mergers and acquisitions in the US in 2026.
Key Takeaways
- SpaceX bought xAI for $250 billion in an all-stock deal, creating a combined entity valued at $1.25 trillion. It is the largest private merger ever completed.
- SpaceX then acquired Cursor for $60 billion in August 2026, the largest startup acquisition on record.
- Seven AI-related deals in 2026 total over $341 billion in disclosed value.
- Eli Lilly made six acquisitions totaling over $20.93 billion, more than any other company this year.
- Several large deals are still not closed: Paramount-WBD ($110.9B) is blocked by a US federal court, NextEra-Dominion ($66.8B) awaits regulatory approvals expected in mid-to-late 2027, and Sysco-Jetro ($29.1B) is pending FTC review.
- Equity Residential and AvalonBay merged on August 17, 2026, forming Vivmark Residential with an enterprise value of roughly $71 billion.
- Caesars Entertainment shareholders approved the Fertitta acquisition on September 22, 2026. Regulatory approval is still required before the deal closes.
Top 10 M&A Deals in the US in 2026 by Value
The table below lists the ten largest deals by disclosed value announced or closed through September 2026.
| Acquirer | Target | Type | Value | Status | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | SpaceX | xAI | Merger | $250B (xAI); combined $1.25T | Closed Feb 2, 2026 |
| 2 | Paramount Skydance | Warner Bros. Discovery | Acquisition | $110.9B | Pending – court trial set Apr 5, 2027 |
| 3 | Equity Residential | AvalonBay Communities | Merger | $71B enterprise value | Closed Aug 17, 2026 |
| 4 | NextEra Energy | Dominion Energy | Merger | $66.8B (Dominion equity); combined EV $420B | Announced – expected close mid-to-late 2027 |
| 5 | SpaceX | Cursor | Acquisition | $60B | Closed Aug 14, 2026 |
| 6 | Devon Energy | Coterra Energy | Merger | $58B EV (at Jan 30 prices) | Closed May 7, 2026 |
| 7 | Sysco | Jetro Restaurant Depot | Acquisition | $29.1B | Announced – pending FTC approval |
| 8 | Corebridge Financial | Equitable Holdings | Merger | $22B | Pending – shareholder-approved Jul 30; expected year-end 2026 |
| 9 | Prologis | Segro | Acquisition | $18.8B | Announced – expected close H1 2027 |
| 10 | Fertitta Entertainment | Caesars Entertainment | Acquisition | $17.6B | Shareholder-approved Sep 22, 2026; pending regulatory |
Note: Enterprise values shift with share prices for stock-for-stock deals. All status information is current as of September 23, 2026.
Deal Value at a Glance
The chart below shows the top 10 deals ranked by disclosed value. Each bar represents one deal.
2026 M&A by Sector
The table below breaks down deal activity by sector across all tracked 2026 transactions.
| Sector | Tracked Deals | Total Disclosed Value |
|---|---|---|
| Artificial Intelligence | 7 | $341B+ |
| Healthcare & Pharma | 16 | $67B+ |
| Real Estate (REIT) | 4 | $107B+ |
| Energy | 3 | $128B+ |
| Financial Services | 6 | $37B+ |
| Cross-Border | 14 | $62B+ |
Key Deal Highlights
Not every big deal goes smoothly. Here is a closer look at the ones that moved markets, broke records, and in some cases, are still not done.
1. SpaceX + xAI (Closed February 2, 2026)
SpaceX acquired xAI in an all-stock deal that valued SpaceX at $1 trillion and xAI at $250 billion, for a combined valuation of $1.25 trillion. CNBC reviewed the deal documents and described it as the largest private merger in history. The deal brought xAI’s Grok AI tools and the X social platform into SpaceX. The combined company, now operating as SpaceXAI, went public in June 2026.
2. Paramount Skydance + Warner Bros. Discovery (Pending)
Paramount Skydance agreed to buy all Warner Bros. Discovery shares at $31 per share, for a total of $110.9 billion. The DOJ cleared the deal in June 2026. By July 2026, 12 state attorneys general sued to block it. Paramount settled with those states on September 21, 2026, according to the Washington Post. A federal court trial is still set for April 5, 2027. The deal has not closed.
3. Vivmark Residential (Closed August 17, 2026)
The two largest publicly traded apartment landlords in the US merged on August 17, 2026, forming Vivmark Residential (NYSE: VMRK). Per Vivmark’s SEC 8-K filing, each AvalonBay share converted to 2.793 Vivmark shares. The combined company owns more than 184,000 apartments and has an enterprise value of roughly $71 billion.
4. NextEra Energy + Dominion Energy (Announced May 18, 2026)
NextEra agreed to buy Dominion Energy in an all-stock deal valuing Dominion at $66.8 billion, with a combined enterprise value of roughly $420 billion, per the official press release. Shareholders of both companies approved the deal on September 3, 2026. The deal still needs FERC, NRC, and state utility commission approvals in Virginia, North Carolina, and South Carolina. Close expected mid-to-late 2027.
5. SpaceX + Cursor (Closed August 14, 2026)
SpaceX agreed to acquire Cursor’s parent company Anysphere for $60 billion on June 16, 2026. The deal closed on August 14, 2026, per the SEC 8-K. Forbes described it as the largest startup acquisition ever recorded.
6. Devon Energy + Coterra Energy (Closed May 7, 2026)
Devon and Coterra signed their merger agreement on February 1, 2026. At Devon’s closing price on January 30, the deal implied a combined enterprise value of $58 billion. Shareholders approved it on May 4, 2026, and the deal closed May 7. The actual stock consideration paid at closing was $24.8 billion, per Devon’s 10-Q.
2026 M&A Trends by Sector
Artificial Intelligence
Seven AI-related deals in 2026 total over $341 billion in disclosed value. SpaceX accounted for $310 billion through its xAI and Cursor deals. NVIDIA’s $12.9 billion acquisition of Hugging Face, announced September 3, 2026, and Stripe’s $7.5 billion purchase of OpenRouter were also among the largest AI deals of the year.
| Acquirer | Target | Value | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| SpaceX | xAI | $250B (xAI standalone) | Closed Feb 2, 2026 |
| SpaceX | Cursor | $60B | Closed Aug 14, 2026 |
| NVIDIA | Hugging Face | $12.9B | Announced Sep 3, 2026 |
| Stripe | OpenRouter | $7.5B | Announced Aug 2026 |
| Qualcomm | Modular Inc. | $3.92B | Announced Jun 2026 |
| Salesforce | Intercom | $3.6B | Announced Jun 2026 |
| Autodesk | MaintainX | $3.6B | Announced May 2026 |
Healthcare and Pharmaceuticals
Eli Lilly completed six acquisitions in 2026 totaling over $20.93 billion. All transactions below are sourced from SEC EDGAR 8-K filings.
| Acquirer | Target | Value |
|---|---|---|
| Boston Scientific | Penumbra | $14.5B |
| AbbVie | Apogee Therapeutics | $10.9B |
| Vertex Pharmaceuticals | Crinetics Pharmaceuticals | $10B |
| Eli Lilly | Centessa Pharmaceuticals | $7.8B |
| Eli Lilly | Kelonia Therapeutics | $7B |
| Merck | Terns Pharmaceuticals | $6.7B |
| Gilead Sciences | Tubulis GmbH | $5B |
Total disclosed deal value across the top 16 tracked healthcare transactions exceeded $67 billion.
Real Estate
The Vivmark Residential merger (closed August 17, 2026) was the largest REIT deal in US history by enterprise value. Public Storage acquired National Storage Affiliates for $10.5 billion in March 2026. Independence Realty Trust and Centerspace announced a merger for $8.1 billion in September 2026.
Energy
The Devon-Coterra deal ($58 billion enterprise value, closed May 7, 2026) created one of the largest shale producers in the US. The NextEra-Dominion deal, if it closes in 2027 as expected, would serve roughly 10 million utility customers across four states.
Financial Services
The Corebridge-Equitable merger ($22 billion, shareholder-approved July 30, 2026) creates a company managing $1.5 trillion in assets. Capital One acquired fintech Brex for $5.15 billion. Victory Capital bought First Eagle Investments for $7 billion. Mastercard acquired crypto infrastructure company BVNK for $1.8 billion.
Cross-Border Deals
Fourteen tracked 2026 transactions involved US acquirers buying companies in other countries. The three largest: Prologis acquired UK-listed Segro for $18.8 billion, Uber acquired Germany’s Delivery Hero for $14.8 billion, and Apollo acquired UK airline easyJet for $7.7 billion.
Most Active Acquirers
| Acquirer | No. of Deals | Targets | Total Value |
|---|---|---|---|
| SpaceX | 2 | xAI, Cursor | $310B |
| Apollo Global Management | 4 | Atlantic Aviation, easyJet, Forvia, Emerald/Questex | $21.3B |
| Eli Lilly | 6 | Centessa, Kelonia, Ajax, Vaccine Co., Curevo, LimmaTech | $20.93B |
FAQs
Got any questions about how M&A deals work? We have covered the most common ones below, from how regulators review transactions to what happens to your equity when a deal closes.
Any deal above the 2026 HSR filing threshold of $119.5 million must be reported to the FTC and Department of Justice before it can close. Both agencies review deals for competition concerns.
Deals involving public companies also require SEC disclosures, including a Schedule TO for tender offers and a Form 8-K for material agreements. Deals with a national security dimension may also go through CFIUS review. The Paramount-WBD, Sysco-Jetro, and NextEra-Dominion deals are all currently in some stage of this process.
In a merger, two companies combine and form a new entity. In an acquisition, one company buys another and absorbs it. The accounting treatment differs under FASB ASC 805, which requires the acquiring company to record goodwill when the purchase price is higher than the fair value of the assets being bought.
Under Delaware corporate law, a shareholder vote is required when the buyer issues more than 20% of its shares as deal consideration, or when the target’s board recommends shareholders approve a sale. Stock-for-stock mergers require votes from shareholders of both companies, as seen in Devon-Coterra, NextEra-Dominion, and Corebridge-Equitable in 2026. Cash tender offers work differently: shareholders individually choose whether to sell.
A cash acquisition retires the cap table: every equity holder gets paid out at a set price per share. In a stock deal, shareholders receive shares in the combined company at a set exchange ratio, and the cap table is recalculated. Companies that go into a deal without a clean cap table often face delays and disputes over how those instruments should be handled.
Having a current, well-documented 409A on file is one of the most common items a buyer requests before signing a deal. A 409A valuation sets the fair market value of a private company’s common stock, which is used to price stock options. Options granted below fair market value create a tax problem for the employees who hold them under Section 409A of the Internal Revenue Code.
When a private company buys a publicly listed shell company to get a stock market listing without going through a traditional IPO. It is faster and cheaper than a standard public offering, but it attracts more regulatory scrutiny and is subject to the same SEC disclosure rules as any other public company deal. One reverse merger appeared in the 2026 dataset: EverBank’s $3.9 billion deal with WaFd, announced July 1, 2026.
Manage Your M&A Equity with Eqvista
The lesson for founders, CFOs, and M&A practitioners is consistent: preparation wins. Companies that enter deals with clean cap tables, current 409A valuations, and organized equity records move faster and negotiate from strength.
Whether you’re preparing for an acquisition or modeling a merger’s equity impact, Eqvista’s cap table management platform supports the full M&A lifecycle from due diligence to post-merger integration. Over 25,000 companies rely on Eqvista for accurate, audit-ready equity management. Get started for free.
