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Facing unprecedented industry transformation and emerging competitive threats, many telecommunications companies are turning to mergers and acquisitions to add new capabilities and evolve their businesses for the next era. At the same time, in the biggest industry reset since deregulation, the integrated telco is giving way to more disaggregated, narrowly focused business models. We’re tracking telecom M&A activity around the world, and we’ll publish the latest developments in this dashboard each quarter.
Here are some of the key takeaways through the second quarter of 2025.
- Deal value surging: After a slow start to the year, global telecom M&A value nearly tripled from about $16 billion in the first quarter to about $47 billion in the second. The first half’s $63 billion total value is 44% more than the same period in 2024. The Americas accounted for 90% of the first half’s global total. Big deals are generating the momentum: Of the 35 transactions announced so far this year, the top five deals represent more than 80% of total value.
- Trends to watch: Telcos are acquiring companies to gain scale and expand reach, especially in the US (e.g., the Charter–Cox Communications and AT&T–Lumen Technologies deals). Other telcos are exiting volatile or non-core markets, as with Telefonica’s announced sales of its subsidiaries in Peru, Uruguay, and Ecuador.
- Biggest deal: Charter’s $34.5 billion acquisition of Cox Communications accounts for more than half of global value this year.
- Scale deals regain momentum: After a decline in the first quarter, scale deals came roaring back. They now account for 70% of global deal value this year, up from 38% in the first half of last year. Divestments’ share of the global total declined from 52% in the first half of 2024 to 27% so far this year.
- Long-term view: Scale deals account for about 43% of all deal value over the past five years, the largest share among deal types. Infrastructure divestments have the second-largest share at 29% during that same period.
Bain’s Quarterly Global Telecom M&A Insights
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