With the technology sector still reeling, the primary drivers for M&A this year appear to be life sciences and energy, and that bears out in this past week’s announced deals. Five of the six announced deals over $1 billion in the last week occurred in either the life sciences or energy sector.

The largest announced M&A deal in the last week was the EQT/Equitrans natural gas sector merger from last Monday, valued at $35 billion. That transaction ties with Synopsys’ pending $35 billion purchase of software company Ansys, announced in January, as the second-largest M&A deal of 2024.