Sep 23, 2026 · 13 min · 9 segments
As industries consolidate, is being bigger becoming a competitive advantage? In this episode of ExecutiveEDGE, we examine why companies across industries are turning to M&A to build scale — and why…
Being better has always had its advantages in business.
But today, scale can also give companies greater capacity to absorb costs, manage risk, and pursue growth, helping explain why M&A activity is accelerating across industries.
One of the more memorable ideas of the noted management consultant Peter Drucker was that size itself isn't a guarantor of success, but that the company being the right size for its industry and opportunities better help shape its destiny.
In the 2020s, however, a seemingly continuous series of business and economic shocks — there's no need to regurgitate them all anymore, although we might now add higher interest rates to the list — appears to have created an environment that favors bulk more than before.
C-suites are acting as if that's the case.
U.S. merger and acquisition activity, which rose 13 percent in 2025, should grow another 15 percent this year, economists at EY Parthenon said last month.
That forecast was up 8 percent in February and 3 percent late last year.
And corporate activity, rather than private equity firms buying, is driving all of the increase.
The number of deals among companies, EY Parthenon said, is now on pace to pop 22% from 2025 as leadership teams look to grab their share of major tailwinds such as data centers, electrification, defense spending, and more.
Deal growth isn't confined to the sexy stories of the day, however.
In recent weeks, executive teams from industrial distributors, applied industrial technologies, staffing firm AMN Healthcare, and several auto parts manufacturers have have said their sectors are also primed for more consolidation and that they plan to be on the right side of it.
We're seeing massive consolidation across our industries, and it's not slowing down, said Chris White, a founding partner and the COO of Thompson Research Group, which focuses on construction and industrial markets.
Beyond solid growth prospects in certain parts of the economy, what's driving the current wave of M&A and consolidation? Several forces are making scale increasingly valuable, and they're unlikely to fade soon.
Being better has always had its advantages in business.
But today, scale can also give companies greater capacity to absorb costs, manage risk, and pursue growth, helping explain why M&A activity is accelerating across industries.
One of the more memorable ideas of the noted management consultant Peter Drucker was that size itself isn't a guarantor of success, but that the company being the right size for its industry and opportunities better help shape its destiny.
In the 2020s, however, a seemingly continuous series of business and economic shocks — there's no need to regurgitate them all anymore, although we might now add higher interest rates to the list — appears to have created an environment that favors bulk more than before.
C-suites are acting as if that's the case.
U.S. merger and acquisition activity, which rose 13 percent in 2025, should grow another 15 percent this year, economists at EY Parthenon said last month.
That forecast was up 8 percent in February and 3 percent late last year.
And corporate activity, rather than private equity firms buying, is driving all of the increase.
The number of deals among companies, EY Parthenon said, is now on pace to pop 22% from 2025 as leadership teams look to grab their share of major tailwinds such as data centers, electrification, defense spending, and more.
Deal growth isn't confined to the sexy stories of the day, however.
In recent weeks, executive teams from industrial distributors, applied industrial technologies, staffing firm AMN Healthcare, and several auto parts manufacturers have have said their sectors are also primed for more consolidation and that they plan to be on the right side of it.
We're seeing massive consolidation across our industries, and it's not slowing down, said Chris White, a founding partner and the COO of Thompson Research Group, which focuses on construction and industrial markets.
Beyond solid growth prospects in certain parts of the economy, what's driving the current wave of M&A and consolidation? Several forces are making scale increasingly valuable, and they're unlikely to fade soon.
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