Mergers and acquisitions (M&A) involving the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) reached $115.5 billion in value in the first half of 2025—a 149 percent increase compared to the same period last year, according to LSEG Deals Intelligence. This marks the highest first-half total since LSEG began tracking the data in 1980.
The number of deals announced in the region rose by 16 percent, reaching the highest level in three years, underscoring the region’s resilience amid global uncertainty, including the impact of the Trump tariffs.
The largest deal announced so far is Borealis AG’s $30.85 billion acquisition of Borouge PLC in the UAE, which is still pending completion, the data showed. The UAE emerged as the most targeted nation, with deals totaling $39.8 billion, followed by Saudi Arabia at $3.5 billion.
Deals involving MENA targets totaled $48.0 billion, up 18 percent year-on-year, reaching a level surpassed only once before—in 2019, when Saudi Aramco acquired a majority stake in SABIC.
MENA outbound M&A totaled $64.5 billion during the first six months of 2025, an all-time first-half record. The number of outbound deals increased 8 percent from year-ago levels.
Read more | Global M&A deal value poised to hit $3.5 trillion in 2024: Report
Financial sector records highest number of deals
The materials sector dominated MENA-targeted M&A by value, accounting for 67 percent of total deal value, largely driven by the ADNOC-OMV merger of Borouge and Borealis. The financial sector recorded the highest number of deals, totaling $3.3 billion in value. The energy & power sector saw deals worth $2.2 billion in the last six-month period.
Rothschild led the MENA financial advisor league table for announced M&A in H1 2025, advising on deals worth a combined $76.1 billion, accounting for 65.9 percent of market share. Goldman Sachs was second with deals worth $75.6 billion. Citi followed with $48.4 billion. Morgan Stanley took the seventh position, down from the first position in H1 2024, with a 40 percent drop in deals value to $16.9 billion.
