KPMG study shows corporate and PE sentiment shaping 2026 deals

KPMG’s 2026 M&A Deal Market Study, labeled in the PDF as a “Survey Report February 2026,” compares how corporate and private equity buyers are thinking about transactions, making it a practical map of where client demand is likely to show up next. If 2026 is shaped by carve-outs, selective dealmaking, and rebuilding pipelines, then the busiest desks will be the ones handling diligence-heavy, tax-sensitive, integration-intensive transactions.

What the survey is really measuring

The study is structured like a working tool for deal advisory, not a generic outlook deck. Its table of contents includes an executive summary, a corporate section, a PE section, and an appendix, which means KPMG is deliberately separating how strategics and sponsors think about market conditions, risk, and timing. Inside the firm, the questions corporate clients ask are often different from the ones private equity firms bring to the table, even when both are looking at the same target.

KPMG’s 2025 M&A Deal Market Study used the same basic survey framework to assess how market conditions were affecting deals, current execution, and planning intentions. KPMG also published comparable deal market survey materials in August 2024 and December 2023, showing that this is an annual research stream, not a one-off publication.

Why carve-outs will keep transaction teams busy

KPMG International’s broader 2026 M&A outlook work points to where the firm expects activity to concentrate. On 18 March 2026, KPMG International’s Global M&A Outlook Survey covered 700 PE and corporate dealmakers across 20 countries and jurisdictions. In the same body of materials, KPMG called 2026 “the year of the carve-out,” a phrase that points directly to one of the most operationally demanding deal types in the market.

Carve-outs are never just about closing a transaction. They usually force buyers and sellers to separate systems, people, contracts, tax positions, and reporting lines, which means more work for transaction services, tax, finance transformation, and post-deal integration teams. That is where staffing pressure tends to build: diligence teams need to price complexity earlier, tax teams need to map separation costs and stranded liabilities, and integration specialists need to help clients decide what gets split, retained, or replatformed.

Where risk scrutiny is tightening

For KPMG professionals, the study turns sentiment into a staffing signal. When corporate respondents are focused on strategic transformation, capital reallocation, or divesting underperforming assets, deal teams can expect more questions about purchase accounting, valuation pressure, and disclosure support. When private equity respondents are more selective, advisers need to be sharper on financing structure, downside risk, and exit timing.

M&A momentum is returning, but in a more complex environment. In practical terms, that means more transactions may get to the screen, but fewer will be straightforward. Financing conditions are improving and pipelines are rebuilding, yet diligence still has to go deeper because boards and investment committees are asking harder questions about value creation, execution risk, and post-close performance.

For audit-adjacent teams, that complexity shows up in purchase accounting judgments, fair value analyses, and the financial reporting implications of deal structure. For transaction services, it means more time pressure around quality of earnings, working capital, and synergy assumptions.

What this means for valuation, tax, and integration work

Demand should cluster in deal advisory, valuation, tax, and integration. If the market is leaning toward carve-outs and selective acquisitions, valuation teams will be pulled into more asset-split scenarios and more contentious purchase price allocations. Tax teams will be needed earlier, because separation planning, entity rationalization, and cross-border structuring can change the economics before a term sheet is signed.

Integration teams will also be busy, but not only after close. The better carve-out work starts before signing, when clients are deciding what the standalone model should look like, what systems need to be duplicated, and what day-one operating model is actually feasible. That is where KPMG’s consulting and deal advisory capabilities overlap.

Why this matters for people early in their KPMG careers

For people on the analyst, associate, and manager track, carve-outs tend to create the steepest learning curve. They sit at the intersection of strategy, finance, tax, and operations. They can be intense, but they are also the assignments that expose junior professionals to the mechanics of how transactions actually get done, from cleaning up the target model to pressure-testing synergies and separating out shared services.

In a firm where M&A work can shape promotion paths and visibility, deal cycles often determine who gets staffed on the most complex projects. The projects that involve carve-outs, financing complexity, and post-merger integration are usually the ones that give younger professionals the broadest client exposure. Across KPMG’s 2026 sector coverage, selective dealmaking and value over volume are becoming the norm, increasing demand for people who can move between diligence, tax, valuation, and operating-model questions.

The broader 2026 playbook inside KPMG

Across KPMG’s wider 2026 M&A materials, momentum is back, but discipline matters more than deal count. Sector reports this year have emphasized value over volume in industrial manufacturing and more selective dealmaking in financial services and in energy, natural resources, and chemicals. Inside the firm, that backdrop points to talent placement, cross-training needs, and partner groups that should be ready for a heavier 2026 pipeline.