'From turbulence to transformation': JPMorgan's Anu Aiyengar on 2026 M&A outlook

Watch on YouTube ↗  |  January 16, 2026 at 13:59  |  8:20  |  CNBC
Speakers
Anu Aiyengar — JPMorgan Global Head of Advisory and Mergers and Acquisitions

Summary

Anu Aiyengar of JPMorgan discussed the firm's 2026 global M&A outlook on Squawk Box, explaining why scale and large deals are increasingly important amid geopolitical, macro, and technological disruption. She highlighted the growth of private capital and the shrinking public-company universe, along with a constructive but selective regulatory environment. She also noted risks that could slow deal activity and the rise of minority, structured, and partnership transactions.

  • JPMorgan published its 2026 global M&A outlook, titled From Turbulence to Transformation.
  • Large deals and scale are being driven by supply-chain, AI, and disruption risks.
  • Public company count has fallen while private capital and founder-owned ecosystems have grown.
  • Private credit, private equity, and private capital solutions are a larger part of markets.
  • Regulators are seen as constructive but still selective, with remedies possible.
  • Record M&A depends on financing, investor support, board support, and stable policy.
  • Minority and structured deals exceeded $1 trillion, 20% of M&A volume.
  • Risks include geopolitical, macro, and policy shocks.
Ideas
Anu Aiyengar JPMorgan Global Head of Advisory and Mergers and Acquisitions 3:04
Private capital ecosystem is structurally growing.
The private capital ecosystem has become a much larger and stronger part of the market: more than 30,000 companies are in private-equity or founder-owned hands, private credit/private equity/private capital solutions are now large enough to fund companies that historically needed public currency, and the private secondary market is growing 60% year over year. This makes private capital a better solution for smaller companies and a structurally growing area of the market.
BIZD PSP MED
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This CNBC video, published January 16, 2026, features Anu Aiyengar discussing BIZD, PSP. 1 trade idea extracted by AI with direction and confidence scoring.

Speakers: Anu Aiyengar  · Tickers: BIZD, PSP