Commercial banking dominates M&A with 179 deals worth $190b

The segment captured 38% of the 2025 value.

The commercial and retail banking remained the largest area for mergers and acquisitions (M&A), with 179 deals worth $190b, according to McKinsey & Co.

Overall, M&A in financial services continued to recover in 2025, with total deal value rising by about 40% to $499b. 

This came despite deal volume remaining largely unchanged, with 612 transactions recorded globally compared with 605 in 2024. 

The average deal size increased from $590m to $815m, with transactions between $1b and $10b making up more than half of total deal value, indicating a shift towards larger and more strategic deals.

Regionally, Asia–Pacific made up 23%, or $116b, with activity affected by lower asset prices and slower cross-border recovery.
China saw several large transactions, including an $18.1b capital-raising deal involving China Mobile Communications and the Postal Savings Bank of China. 

Companies in the region also continued to consolidate to strengthen their position in global markets.

The average deal size in this segment reached about $1.1b. Consolidation amongst regional and mid-sized banks was driven by the need to scale operations and improve technology capabilities.

Fintech and payments recorded 55 deals with a total value of $64b. The average deal size rose to around $1.2b. 
Growth was supported by larger payments transactions and banks acquiring technology capabilities to improve their products and systems. 

Wealth and asset management activity increased more modestly, with 156 deals worth $113b in 2025, up 15% from the previous year. 

This follows a period of heavier consolidation in earlier years. 

The data also shows that commercial and retail banking accounted for 38% of total deal value in 2025, followed by investment management at 23%, speciality finance at 22%, fintech at 13% and investment banking at 4%. 

By deal volume, speciality finance led with 30%, followed by commercial and retail banking at 29% and investment management at 25%.

Average deal sizes varied across subsectors. 

Fintech deals reached about $1.2b on average in 2025, whilst commercial and retail banking deals were just over $1b. 

Investment management deals were smaller at around $0.7b, with investment banking and speciality finance generally below that level.