Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz partners review 2025 global M&A trends and outline expectations for dealmaking, regulation, financing and activism heading into 2026.

• M&A volumes surged in 2025 to $2.3 trillion US deal value (up 49% vs. 2024) and 63 global $10B+ megadeals, driven by large strategic combinations, record private equity activity (~$2T PE volume), bank consolidation, AI- and infrastructure-related transactions, and open debt markets supporting record leveraged buyouts and complex financings.
• The memo details sector hotspots (tech/AI, energy & infrastructure, banks, healthcare, media, oil & gas, crypto), regulatory shifts under the Trump administration (more traditional antitrust, SEC easing disclosures, CFIUS conditions), U.S. government equity investments (e.g., $8.9B for 9.9% of Intel, rare earths, chips), M&A-focused shareholder activism, spin-offs, CVRs, hostile bids, sovereign wealth fund participation, new HSR Act filing rules, and Delaware corporate law changes impacting future deals.

Alexa News Nigeria has announced a strategic media partnership with the Niger Delta Advancement Awards (NDAA) 8.0 to provide comprehensive, multi-phased coverage of the 2025 edition across the nine Niger Delta states.

• Partnership scope: Alexa News Nigeria will deliver pre-event promotion, real-time live updates from Port Harcourt, and post-event expert analyses and recaps, including nominee profiles, category highlights, winner announcements, and policy-focused reviews connecting awardees’ work to infrastructure development, youth empowerment, environmental sustainability, economic diversification, and social inclusion across Delta, Bayelsa, Rivers, Akwa Ibom, Cross River, Edo, Ondo, Abia, and Imo states.
• Awards focus and governance: NDAA 8.0, powered by JUVENIS Magazine/TV, will benchmark states, individuals, and institutions on governance performance, infrastructural development, peace and security, youth and women inclusion, education, healthcare delivery, environmental responsibility, and socio-economic growth, using independent assessment processes to promote accountability, best-practice adoption, and sustainable development in the Niger Delta.

The Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) of Japan has hosted the “Central Asia + Japan” Business Forum in Tokyo, where 158 memoranda of understanding between Japanese and Central Asian entities were announced and presented.

• Forum focus and outcomes: The event, co-hosted by METI, ROTOBO, and JETRO, gathered government and business representatives from Japan and five Central Asian countries and announced 158 cooperation documents/MOUs signed since January 2025, covering green transition, industrial resilience, digital transformation, connectivity, finance, human resource development, and social systems.
• High-level participation and thematic sessions: Japan’s Prime Minister Takaichi, METI Minister Akazawa, and the presidents of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan attended, while three thematic sessions showcased cooperation plans on green growth and renewable energy, digital industries and regional connectivity (including AI and digital assets), and finance and HR development, with participation from major Japanese firms such as Itochu, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Marubeni, Toyota Tsusho, Mitsubishi Corporation, and Central Asian institutions including Turkmengas, Freedom Holding, FinJust, and relevant ministries.

The Government of Brazil has inaugurated the Brazil–Paraguay Integration Bridge over the Paraná River, co-financed by Brazil and Paraguay and mainly funded via Itaipu Binacional under the PAC infrastructure programme.

• Bridge investment R$ 1.9 billion, with R$ 712 million from Itaipu (R$ 372m for the cable‑stayed bridge, R$ 340m for the 14.7 km Perimetral Leste access road and new customs facilities), creating a second road link between Foz do Iguaçu (Brazil) and Presidente Franco (Paraguay); initial operation from 20 December allows only empty trucks under schedules coordinated by Receita Federal and Polícia Rodoviária Federal, with full cargo traffic targeted end‑2026 to early‑2027 once Paraguay’s Corredor Metropolitano del Este is completed.
• The bridge is 760 m long with a 470 m main span (largest in the continent), twin 3.6 m lanes and 190 m towers; the project, planned since the 1990s, became a PAC strategic priority in 2012, received its environmental licence from Ibama in 2017, construction ran 2019–2023, and Itaipu’s 2023 management provided final funds and completed customs works; Itaipu also announced starting tilapia aquaculture in its reservoir under a Brazil‑Paraguay partnership, while the PAC overall is investing R$ 67 billion in Paraná across multiple sectors.

The Ministry of Environment (MOENV) of Taiwan has announced draft review principles defining which industries qualify as high carbon leakage risk entities eligible for up to 80% reductions in carbon fees if they have approved self-determined reduction plans.

• High carbon leakage risk industries include 17 sectors (e.g., steel, concrete, oil refining, chemicals, pulp and paperboard, plastics, glass, textiles, PCBs, optoelectronics, computers, data storage media) and a second category where annual carbon fees exceed 30% of gross profit, gross profit is negative, products face anti-dumping duties, or are significantly affected by U.S. reciprocal tariffs in 2025–2026; firms must submit documentation to MOENV by Jan. 31 of the fee payment year, and applications will be jointly reviewed with the Ministry of Economic Affairs.
• Under Taiwan’s carbon fee program, emitters above 25,000 metric tons/year CO₂ pay NT$300 (US$9.50) per tonne, reducible to NT$100 or NT$50 per tonne with approved reduction plans, and a further 80% cut for high-leakage industries; the draft, modeled on EU and South Korean carbon leakage methods, will be open for 14 days of public comment before finalization.