In 2025, the global technology services M&A landscape underwent a decisive transformation. After cautious capital deployment through 2023 and 2024, deal activity rebounded sharply – driven not by scale for scale’s sake, but by the pursuit of capability, specialization, and AI-first infrastructure. Quarterly deal values surged from $130 billion in Q4 2024 to $255 billion by mid-2025, as acquirers concentrated capital around businesses with tangible, deployment-ready AI capabilities.

The AI-First Shift

A defining feature of the year was AI’s transition from speculative growth theme to core infrastructure priority. Strategic acquirers moved aggressively to secure firms with proven delivery frameworks in LLM fine-tuning, retrieval-augmented generation, and agentic AI workflows. Q4 2025 was notably the first quarter to feature multiple acquisitions of pure-play AI solutions providers, while Salesforce’s landmark $8 billion acquisition of Informatica underscored the critical role of data governance in powering autonomous AI systems. AI Consulting led the valuation landscape, commanding EV/Revenue multiples of up to 4.0x and EV/EBITDA of 12.0x–15.0x.

Cybersecurity Resilience

Cybersecurity emerged as the most active sub-sector, recording more than 120 deals totaling $9.2 billion by Q3. Marquee transactions included Alphabet’s $32 billion acquisition of Wiz and Palo Alto Networks’ $25 billion purchase of CyberArk, reflecting the continued shift toward platformized security stacks. Buyers also moved to strengthen AI security capabilities through targeted deals such as Check Point’s acquisition of Lakera ($300 million) and F5’s purchase of CalypsoAI ($180 million).

MSP Consolidation and Cloud Infrastructure

The managed services landscape continued its PE-backed consolidation wave, with the global market projected to reach $1 trillion by 2035. Vertical specialization became a key differentiator, and size remained a primary determinant of value: platform MSPs traded near 11x EBITDA versus 5–8x for smaller add-on targets. In cloud and data infrastructure, the $40 billion acquisition of Aligned Data Centers by a consortium including Nvidia and Microsoft signaled the enormous capital commitments underpinning the AI era.

Private Equity Dynamics

Private equity was central to the consolidation cycle, with global dry powder surpassing $2.3 trillion. Activity skewed toward add-on acquisitions over large-scale buyouts, as sponsors focused on building competitive platforms through synergy-driven strategies. PE exits reached a three-year high in Q3 2025.

2026 Outlook

Looking ahead, momentum is expected to carry into 2026. Key themes include continued investment in AI infrastructure (data centers, GPU providers, MLOps platforms), further consolidation in verticalized SaaS across healthcare and finance, the commercialization of agentic AI, and growing demand for sustainability and ESG-focused technology in European and Nordic markets.

The 2025 market demonstrated that technology is no longer an add-on but the core infrastructure of modern enterprise — and as the industry enters its next chapter, the focus will remain on mission-critical technologies that deliver high-value, recurring managed services.

Download the full Novistra Tech & Services report for deeper analysis on the forces shaping this fast-moving M&A landscape.