Blog: Last year reaffirmed the importance of MGAs as the market turns to 2026
The past year tested global dealmakers with persistent economic, geopolitical and regulatory uncertainty, yet 2025 ultimately proved far more resilient than many expected, writes Jamie Richards, head of M&A at Ripe, a UK digital MGA.
Total global M&A value reached close to record levels last year, driven by a wave of mega-deals even as overall transaction volumes softened.
Within insurance, M&A has remained globally robust with lower volumes in the UK on the back of a number of record-setting years. As we head into 2026, confidence is beginning to return, particularly among UK-focused buyers like ourselves who are pursuing clearly defined, product-led growth strategies rather than broad geographic expansion.
But whilst global
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