M&A trends 2018 Corporate and private equity executives foresee an acceleration of merger and acquisition (M&A) activity in 2018, both in the number of deals and the size of the transactions. Technology acquisition is the new No. 1 driver of M&A pursuits and dealmakers report using non-spreadsheet based M&A technology tools to help reduce conflicts, costs, and time.

The Deloitte M&A trends report looks at M&A activity by surveying more than 1,000 executives at corporations and private equity firms about the current year and their expectations for the next 12 months. The results of our fifth survey, The state of the deal: M&A trends 2018, point to strong deal activity ahead. Nearly 70 percent of executives at US-headquartered corporations and 76 percent of leaders at domestic-based private equity firms say deal flow will increase in the next 12 months. Further, there is virtually unanimous sentiment that deal size will increase, if not stay the same, compared with deals brokered in 2017.

Bottom line: The M&A outlook for 2018 is positive. To find out more, explore the M&A trends report.