Thiago Barrozo

Latin America’s M&A market recorded USD 58.9bn in deal value in 1H26, up 29% year over year and the strongest first half since 1H21. More than one-third of that value came from sponsor-backed transactions, which reached USD 20.7bn across 78 deals — the second highest six-month total on record, according to Mergermarket data. Activity was concentrated in a handful of blockbuster transactions, however, pushing overall deal count down to 535 from 617 a year earlier.

Volatile exchange rates and macroeconomic uncertainty paired with spiking inflation, high interest rates and political risks have kept US acquirors away from Latin America this year. After major increases in 2021 and 2022, Latin American inbound deal volumes from US buyers slumped to pre-pandemic levels in 2023, according to Mergermarket data.

The election of Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva —widely known as Lula— for a third term as president of Brazil foreshadows a slowdown in the South American country’s privatization push. During Lula’s first two terms in office from 2003 to 2010 Brazil recorded six privatization deals (excluding oil-and-gas lease auctions) worth USD 3.4bn, according to Dealogic data.