Global insurance mergers and acquisitions (M&A) steadied in 2025 after hitting a 16‑year low the year before, with dealmakers favoring targeted, strategically coherent transactions over volume‑driven growth, according to Clyde & Co’s latest Insurance Growth Update.
The law firm’s analysis showed 211 insurance transactions completed worldwide in 2025, up slightly from 204 in 2024 but still well below the 2023 peak of 346. The rebound, while modest, pointed to a market regaining its footing amid moderating interest‑rate pressures and greater macroeconomic stability.
Rather than a broad‑based surge in activity, Clyde & Co characterizes 2025 as a year in which “discipline over deal fever” defined strategy. Acquirers focused on portfolio optimization, capability bolt‑ons and carefully chosen cross‑border moves, with clear differences in behavior between carriers and intermediaries and across regions.
Carriers stay selective as intermediaries drive momentum
Beneath the headline numbers, 2025 was “a tale of two cities” across the insurance value chain.
M&A remained selective and often defensive. Transformational carrier combinations were scarce. Transactions tended to fall into two camps: highly strategic global plays, or local consolidations that did little to change competitive dynamics in mature markets.
Organic growth challenges, particularly in parts of Europe where industrial slowdown and corporate buyers’ scrutiny of premiums weighed on top‑line prospects, tempered appetite for bold expansion. Many carriers concentrated on streamlining portfolios, exiting noncore books and reinforcing positions in existing markets rather than chasing scale for its own sake.
By contrast, intermediaries, especially brokers and managing general agent (MGA) platforms, continued to see robust deal activity. Investors remained drawn to distribution and delegated underwriting models that capture growth without tying up capital on a traditional insurance balance sheet. This momentum among intermediaries helped keep overall deal counts stable even as carriers pulled back from large‑scale consolidation.
This divergence underscores an ongoing shift in where value is being created. Capital‑light distribution and underwriting models continue to attract interest from private equity and strategic buyers, while balance‑sheet carriers are under pressure to prove that M&A will genuinely enhance return on equity rather than simply add complexity.
APAC resurge, Americas still dominant
The Americas remained the largest M&A market by volume, with 77 deals, although that total was down from 92 in 2024 and well below the 162 recorded in 2023. The region still acts as the primary engine of global insurance dealmaking, central to multinational transactions and private‑equity‑backed consolidation, but activity is now more measured.
The UK and Europe were broadly stable, with 57 deals in 2025 compared with 56 in 2024. Interest in Lloyd’s and London market access continued to underpin transactions, while a major Swiss deal involving Helvetia Holding AG was among the year’s largest.
However, macroeconomic headwinds and regulatory scrutiny kept many European carriers focused on remediation rather than transformative expansion.
Asia‑Pacific (APAC) delivered the clearest resurgence. Deal volume jumped to 58 from 39 in 2024, making it the standout growth region. Clyde & Co attributed this to renewed outbound appetite and capital availability among Japanese insurers after a period of domestic portfolio recalibration, as well as regional players seeking cross‑border diversification and specialty capabilities.
The Middle East and Africa (MEA) remained a smaller contributor, with 15 deals in 2025 versus 17 in 2024, but still presented selective opportunities for carriers and brokers pursuing footprint expansion in higher‑growth markets.
Overall, the regional split in 2025 saw the Americas account for roughly 45% of deals, the UK and Europe 28%, APAC 19% and MEA 8%, highlighting both the continuing dominance of North America and the rising importance of Asia‑Pacific in the insurance M&A landscape.
Deal size, cross‑border activity and capital deployment
Fifteen deals exceeded US$1 billion in 2025, including seven “mega‑deals” above US$5 billion, the majority in APAC. That distribution reflects where acquirers are willing to deploy significant capital in pursuit of strategic goals – often to build scale in high‑growth segments or acquire specialist expertise in areas such as health, specialty commercial lines or technology‑enabled distribution.
Cross‑border activity remained measured at 43 transactions. While this is far from the heights seen earlier in the decade, Clyde & Co noted that the forward pipeline suggests growing international ambition, particularly among intermediaries constructing multi‑territory distribution networks and MGA platforms. The bar for cross‑border moves remains high, with regulatory complexity, capital requirements and execution risk all under close board scrutiny.
Volumes well off historical highs
Despite the uptick from 2024, 2025’s 211 deals remain low in a historical context.
From 2009 to 2022, annual global insurance M&A volumes frequently exceeded 400 transactions, peaking at 573 in 2009 and 449 in 2022. Volumes have since trended down, with 346 in 2023, 204 in 2024 and 211 in 2025.
That pattern reflects a shift from the post‑financial‑crisis era of frequent mid‑sized transactions toward a more selective, strategy‑driven approach – particularly as higher interest rates raise the cost of capital and make disciplined deployment more important.
Outlook for 2026
Looking ahead, Clyde & Co expects 2026 to bring gradual acceleration in insurance M&A rather than a cyclical surge.
Carrier activity is forecast to remain disciplined and focused on bolt‑ons that deepen capabilities or tidy up portfolios, while intermediary consolidation is likely to continue at pace.
The US is expected to remain the primary engine of dealmaking, with selective expansion across APAC and parts of Africa as buyers target growth markets and specialty niches.
Risks remain, including renewed geopolitical shocks or a return to higher interest rates that would raise the cost of capital and dampen confidence, but the overall outlook points to sustained, strategically driven activity as insurers and brokers pursue disciplined expansion, according to the analysis.
