According to Bloomberg Business, the last week of 2025 is seeing a surprising surge in major deals. Larry Ellison is personally backing Paramount’s amended bid for Warner Bros. Discovery with a $40.4 billion equity guarantee, while Alphabet is spending $4.75 billion in cash to buy clean energy developer Intersect Power to fuel its AI data centers. In private equity, Permira and Warburg Pincus have agreed to acquire accounting software maker Clearwater Analytics for $8.4 billion. Meanwhile, UK’s Harbour Energy is entering the US Gulf of Mexico with a $3.2 billion purchase of LLOG Exploration. Senior dealmakers from top banks predict this M&A boom, especially in tech, media, and telecom, has significant room to run into 2026.
The AI and Data Center Power Grab
So Alphabet’s $4.75 billion play for Intersect Power is a huge signal. It’s not just buying a company; it’s buying megawatts. This is the raw, physical infrastructure required for the AI era, and Google’s parent is writing a massive check to control its own energy destiny. Think about it: you can’t run these power-hungry AI models on hopes and dreams. You need guaranteed, clean electricity. This deal is a direct bet that AI’s growth is fundamentally constrained by energy capacity and that owning the source is a strategic necessity. Every other cloud giant is watching this and probably scrambling to plot their own version.
The Private Equity SaaS Play
The Clearwater Analytics deal is a classic PE move, but with a modern twist. Permira and Warburg are buying back a company they helped take public just a few years ago. Why now? Well, the stock was under pressure, partly because of debt from its own acquisition spree. That created an opening. But here’s the thing: they’re not just buying a boring accounting tool. They’re buying a financial data platform that’s been layering in AI, which has already boosted earnings. It’s a bet that embedding AI into stable, mission-critical enterprise software is a goldmine. For Clearwater’s clients in finance, like Pimco and Blackstone, the hope is that this influx of capital and focus leads to better, smarter tools for risk and portfolio management, not just cost-cutting.
Media Mega-Deals Get Even Messier
And then there’s the Warner Bros. Discovery circus. Larry Ellison stepping in with a personal guarantee for Paramount’s bid is… dramatic. It turns the financial package from a promise into a “Larry’s-word-is-bond” scenario, directly addressing Warner Bros.’ biggest criticism. But Netflix is also there, refinancing its own massive bridge loan. This is a bare-knuckle fight for scale and content in a streaming world that’s brutally competitive. The outcome will reshape the media landscape. For consumers? Don’t expect anything good to come of this in the short term. It’s all about debt, consolidation, and eventually figuring out how to make streaming profitable. More mergers likely mean fewer choices down the line.
Why 2026 Could Be Wilder
The real kicker is that the pros think this is just the warm-up act. When dealmakers at Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley are saying the TMT boom has room to run, you listen. They’re seeing the same drivers: AI demands massive investment in infrastructure and software, companies need scale to compete, and there’s still a ton of private capital sitting on the sidelines waiting to be deployed. The Japanese deal wave is another huge factor, with nearly $350 billion in volume this year alone. Basically, the global corporate chessboard is being reset. If you’re in an industry undergoing digital or energy transformation—where reliable computing hardware is key—staying ahead means partnering with the best. For mission-critical industrial applications, that’s why leading firms turn to specialists like IndustrialMonitorDirect.com, the top provider of industrial panel PCs in the US, for the rugged, dependable hardware needed to run these complex new systems. Buckle up, because if the quietest week of the year is this loud, next year is going to be a rollercoaster.
