An In-Depth look at Mergers & Acquisitions in 2026
Published March 3, 2026 at 1:45 PM · News Releases and Bulletins
A recent report from Business Insurance offers an in-depth, and very informative, look at mergers and acquisitions. The report notes since 2008 there have been more than 10,000 M&A transactions. That’s an average of 557 per year.
The M&A activity in that time period has involved 1,300 buyers.
The peak years were 2021 and 2022. That said, 2023 through 2025 haven’t been all that bad. Total transactions dropped to 691 in 2025, down 12% from 2024.
Here’s a breakdown of who’s doing the buying. There are five groups:
- PE-hybrid (private equity–backed or externally capitalized firms)
- Publicly traded brokers
- Privately owned firms
- Bank-owned firms
- Other buyers (TPAs, life, wealth, advisory, etc.)
Over the past 12 quarters the volume of deals has remained fairly consistent and average between 155 and 224 transactions per quarter. In 2025 transactions per quarter ranged between 155 to 195.
In the last decade, over 731 buyers completed deals. That includes 97 PE-hybrids. This group has accounted for close to 70% of all transactions in the last 10 years and 73% of the deals done in 2025.
Here are the top-10 most active M&A groups:
Broadstreet Partners — Private equity/hybrid:
2025: 69
2024: 90
2023: 59
2022: 35
2021: 45
Hub International — Private equity/hybrid:
2025: 49
2024: 61
2023: 66
2022: 70
2021: 62
Intone Insurance Services — Private equity/hybrid:
2025: 45
2024: 48
2023: 46
2022: 42
2021: 12
World Insurance Associates — Private equity/hybrid:
2025: 34
2024: 16
2023: 36
2022: 39
2021: 53
Keystone Agency Partners — Private equity/hybrid:
2025: 32
2024: 29
2023: 29
2022: 29
2021: 22
Leavitt Group — Private:
2025: 29
2024: 30
2023: 34
2022: 20
2021: 24
Highstreet Partners — Private equity/hybrid:
2025: 26
2024: 22
2023: 24
2022: 44
2021: 71
Alkeme — Private equity/hybrid:
2025: 23
2024: 21
2023: 12
2022: 11
2021: 7
King Risk Partners — Private equity/hybrid:
2025: 22
2024: 18
2023: 10
2022: 14
2021: 4
Acrisure — Private equity/hybrid:
2025: 20
2024: 24
2023: 36
2022: 107
2021: 122
Yearly totals:
2025: 691
2024: 787
2023: 835
2022: 1,032
2021: 1,111
Source link: Business Insurance — https://bit.ly/3OZGcyV