Energy deals to lead PH M&A growth in 2026, PwC says

Mergers and acquisitions (M&A) in the Philippines are expected to grow this year, primarily in energy and grid-adjacent assets, following the decline in 2025 when investors were strategically selective, a report released by Isla Lipana & Co. (PwC Philippines) on Friday revealed.

According to PwC Philippines’ Year-End M&A Report 2025, there were 74 M&A deals in the Philippines as of December 4, 2025, equivalent to a total deal value of $4.6 billion. This is lower than the 113 deals in 2024 worth $8.6 billion.

This brought the Philippines fifth in Southeast Asia, following Singapore with 336 deals worth $31.7 billion, Malaysia with 147 deals worth $7.3 billion, Vietnam with 94 deals worth $6.9 billion, and Indonesia with 102 deals worth $6.2 billion.

“Philippine M&A trends last year indicated our resilience points and opportunity strongholds. While there was a lower deal volume, we are seeing that more deals are just taking longer to close. We expect a good number of these transactions to be completed early this year,” PwC Philippines M&A and Corporate Finance partner Trissy Rogacion said in an emailed statement.

Energy and natural resources accounted for the largest share with $1.910-billion worth of deals; followed by real estate with $1.155 billion; consumer and retail with $659.3 million; communications, media, and entertainment with $300 million; transportation with $260.7 million; industrials with $180 million; technology with $59.6 million; financial services with $33.3 million; and healthcare with $7.0 million.

Among the biggest deals in 2025 are Prime Infrastructure Capital Inc.’s acquisition of $897.5-million worth of power stations from First Gen, Manila Electric Company’s (Meralco) $127.6-million investment in SP New Energy Corp., and AREIT Inc.’s infusion of $343.9-million worth of properties.

“Even as investors have been strategically selective in 2025, we anticipate sustained interest in various sectors,” PwC Philippines chairman and senior partner Roderick Danao said.

“For energy, deals on renewables drove the sector last year. Clearly, investors are aligning with the government’s long-range campaign for clean energy. With this, we can hope to see a new wave of M&A activity this year, especially in the energy sector,” he added.

PwC Philippines said other industries to watch include the industrial sector, and real estate and infrastructure, given legislative reforms such as the Real Property Valuation and Assessment Reform Act, and the Accelerated and Reformed Right-of-Way (ARROW) Act. —VAL, GMA Integrated News