Despite near-record volumes and a parade of blockbuster deals, marshalling the support needed to get transactions over the finish line has become even more complex.

In 2026, boards, management teams and their advisers are pursuing M&A with renewed confidence and a willingness to make bold bets. Activity in the first quarter was driven by large, transformative deals, with a record 22 transactions each valued at more than US$10 billion announced globally.¹ Cross-border activity remains robust and large-scale domestic transactions often involve global operations, introducing layers of international regulatory complexity.

The market has been shaped by transactions that attract significant scrutiny in an era when a growing range of voices are willing to express support or opposition throughout the approval process. At the same time, the priorities of governments around the world are diverging and the lines between antitrust enforcement and the pursuit of broader national interests continue to blur.

The ability to communicate clearly, consistently and credibly is a prerequisite to a successful launch and close. For dealmakers, a communications strategy that is fully embedded in the deal process from beginning to end is critical. The better positioned companies are to see around corners and address stakeholders' concerns, the more likely they are to close deals successfully.

The Shape of the Market is Making Communications More Central

Deals are not drawing more scrutiny simply because they're larger. We are in a moment when cultural, commercial and political considerations are more intertwined than ever before. Many of the transactions shaping the market in 2026 are unusually salient to broad, non-specialist audiences – and therefore more exposed to public, political and stakeholder scrutiny throughout the approval process.

Large-scale, headline-grabbing transactions in food, personal care, beauty, liquor and other consumer categories are especially tangible. They touch the daily routines of millions at a time when concerns about affordability and the cost of living remain acute and politically potent.

Recent contested transactions in media and telecommunications have involved beloved media properties, trusted news institutions and the channels through which content is distributed, making certain deals flashpoints in a broader era of upheaval in mass culture and information.

In AI and adjacent sectors, enthusiasm about growth and strategic importance is often matched by concerns about technological disruption and real-world impact on issues ranging from local zoning decisions, tax policy and infrastructure to global climate change.

Because these transactions are easier for non-specialist audiences to grasp and react to, they are also more likely to become proxies for broader questions about power, identity, jobs, national competitiveness and social impact.

While every transaction is unique, the throughline is clear: a significant share of the deals being made today can attract criticism – or support – from constituencies beyond shareholders and regulators alone. Many of these groups are already organised and politically active, ranging from issue-based social movements to traditional labour coalitions to hyperlocal advocacy networks.

In an election year, that influence can matter even more. When public commentary from politicians, activists, labour, customers, local communities and the media can materially shape the context in which approval is sought, communications is not just a parallel workstream, but a central part of deal execution.

Today’s Regulatory Climate Demands a Broader Stakeholder Case for Approval

In 2026, the regulatory landscape is arguably more constructive than in prior years. The number of second requests has fallen materially, less burdensome remedies have re-emerged as a viable path to clearance, and several transactions that may have faced robust opposition from the DOJ in years past have secured approval.

Even so, the approval process is not necessarily easier or more straightforward in practice. What is clear is that governments, political actors and regulatory bodies around the world are thinking beyond traditional antitrust enforcement principles as they scrutinise mergers.

As a result, companies must do more than make the case for a transaction to shareholders and regulators alone. From day one, they must instead advance a clear narrative for how a transaction will benefit not only shareholders, employees, customers and communities, but entire economies through growth, investment, industrial resilience and competitiveness.

This dynamic is evident in the pending merger between Teck and Anglo American. From launch, the companies positioned the transaction as the formation of a global critical minerals champion aligned with the strategic priorities of multiple key jurisdictions, including Canada and Chile. The parties proactively addressed key issues that historically might have been left for later in the review process, including significant detail on the combined company’s corporate, operational and capital markets footprint. The investment, employment and community commitments that accompanied the announcement were concrete, prominent and framed in jurisdiction-specific, national-interest terms.

It is also exemplified in Norfolk Southern's pending combination with Union Pacific to create America's first transcontinental railroad. The transaction has been framed as a transformational, transnational infrastructure initiative that will strengthen America’s workforce, manufacturing base and supply chains. The companies have made a strong case that the combined entity will be an engine of the American economy that will enhance the country's competitive positioning, particularly with respect to global trade.

In a world where information moves in real-time and impressions harden fast, ensuring that narrative resonates requires a communications strategy that cultivates and amplifies supportive outside voices while responding quickly and clearly to key milestones on the path to close.

Norfolk Southern and Union Pacific are not just collecting third-party support but systematising it in a way that is visible and easy to find. A dedicated transaction microsite – up-nstranscontinental.com – serves as a living hub for updates on the transaction process, supportive statements from customers, labour leaders, elected officials and community voices and other resources. As another example, Kimberly-Clark’s pending US$48.7 billion acquisition of Kenvue includes a microsite – leadinghealthandwellness.com – that prominently highlights the companies’ shared commitments to employees, customers and communities, including plans to invest US$7+ billion in US operations through 2030. This infrastructure helps summarise broad support into a simple and effective case for clearance.

An Unforgiving Information Ecosystem Puts a Premium on Precision, Clarity and Consistency

Transactions are now interpreted and judged in an information ecosystem that is faster, more fragmented and more vulnerable to misinterpretation.

The stakes of M&A communications have always been high and the rapid adoption of LLMs has made them higher still. Announcing a major acquisition, merger or sale usually brings one of the most intense and sustained periods of scrutiny a company may ever encounter. Nearly every constituency is impacted – and has a position. Securities and regulatory filings and media coverage create a dense, fast-growing corpus of materials beyond those that are fully within a company's control.

In 2026, key audiences are no longer engaging with that body of material as directly as they once did. The generative AI summaries that have become nearly ubiquitous across traditional search engines are commanding an increasing share of limited attention: 60% of searches terminate without users clicking through to another website.[1] Even the most sophisticated investors, regulators and other stakeholders are leveraging AI tools for business-critical research and policy analysis, making AI a powerful intermediary through which transactions are assessed and understood.

That shift makes transaction communications more dynamic and consequential throughout the path to close.

Well before signing, companies must assess how major AI systems interpret their sector, business and counterparty so they can tailor messaging accordingly. It's also increasingly important to "flood the zone" with accurate, owned content – detailed FAQs, transcripts, infographics and the like – that rises to the top when attention spikes. To ensure those materials effectively reach the right audiences, companies must also build and maintain a digital infrastructure that allows them to answer new questions and refresh the public record as the approval process advances.

The relevant question is not only what traditional and social media are saying, but also how AI systems are reconstructing those narratives, which sources they prioritise and where gaps or distortions may emerge.

A Note on Media: a More Crowded M&A Environment Rewards Long-Term Engagement

Traditional media remains an important conduit to key audiences. It continues to shape not only how investors, regulators and other stakeholders understand a transaction directly, but also the information that AI systems surface and summarise.

Securing thoughtful coverage from the right reporters at the right publications is an effective way to supplement owned launch communications and give stakeholders a multifaceted look at the rationale and benefits of a transaction.

Buyers and sellers that have invested in long-term relationships with their beat reporters have a competitive advantage when it is time to announce a deal. The volume of major transactions has made it harder to secure detailed coverage that highlights a transaction’s strategic rationale and benefits for sophisticated audiences. Because AI systems analyse and can amplify top-tier coverage, these stories can have an outsized impact on the information many searchers see and absorb as their views of a deal take shape.

Coverage that goes beyond price and terms, elevates the voices of company leaders and emphasizes broad-based benefits of a transaction can be especially valuable in this information environment. Over the course of a lengthy merger approval process, it can become an important part of the communications toolkit – albeit one that communications teams and advisers must build and maintain well before launch.

Getting to Close Requires Much More than a Good Deal on Paper

Announcing, securing approval for and closing transactions is more complex than ever. With larger transactions that implicate a constellation of regulators and stakeholders across the globe, communications can no longer be treated as downstream from the deal process or a narrow exercise in day one messaging. As 2026 unfolds, the companies that prepare early and approach communications with the same degree of strategic rigor and discipline they bring to the transaction itself will be best positioned to get transactions over the finish line – and to do so on their own terms.

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This content was first published in Lexology: Merger Control. For further information, please visit this link: https://www.lexology.com/indepth/merger-control/m-and-a-in-the-spotlight-managing-perception-and-tailoring-messaging-on-the-path-to-close