M&A Deal Flow: Mega-Deals and Antitrust Reviews — 2026-09-27
This week's dealmaking headlines span a withdrawn $18bn casino takeover, an investor showdown over a $13bn Icahn-linked deal, and a potential take-private of Japan's Kobayashi Pharmaceutical. Cross-border and sponsor activity remains strong, with Platinum Equity completing a $6.6bn exit and Japan recording multi-billion-yen tender offers.
M&A Deal Flow: Mega-Deals and Antitrust Reviews — 2026-09-27
Top developments
MGM $18bn takeover offer withdrawn
An $18bn takeover offer for MGM has been withdrawn, sending shares down about 11% as the casino giant returns to a standalone strategy. The collapse removes one of the largest live mega-deal bets in the gaming sector and highlights how break-up risk is hitting target shareholders directly.
Carl Icahn faces new legal fight over $13 billion deal
Carl Icahn is facing a newly emerged legal dispute connected to a $13 billion deal, per TheStreet, which describes it as an "unexpected investor showdown" sparked by a major private equity transaction. Litigation risk around sponsor-led deals is becoming a recurring feature of large take-privates.
Kobayashi Pharmaceutical weighs going private after fund buyout proposal
Japan's Kobayashi Pharmaceutical received a tender offer (TOB) buyout proposal from a Japan-UK fund consortium, according to Sankei and Bloomberg (September 24, 2026; Bloomberg flags shares were bought with indications ahead of the announcement, not confirmed terms). A take-private would mark a prominent post-crisis restructuring of a Japanese consumer healthcare name.
Platinum Equity completes $6.6bn Urbaser sale to Blackstone and EQT
Platinum Equity completed its $6.6bn sale of Madrid-headquartered environmental infrastructure group Urbaser to Blackstone Infrastructure and EQT Infrastructure, five years after buying the business for $4.2bn — roughly a doubling of valuation over the hold. The deal is a major sponsor exit and a fresh vote of confidence in infrastructure-led M&A.
Hikocom (Hikari Tsushin) to acquire Leopalace 21 via tender offer worth up to ¥267.6bn
Hikari Tsushin, together with two investment funds, announced on September 14 a tender offer to take over Japanese rental housing major Leopalace 21, with a total acquisition value of up to ¥267.6bn (about ¥270bn). The deal is one of Japan's largest live TOBs and underscores continued富士domestic consolidations of listed real-estate-adjacent names.
Local view
Japanese business press is dominated by take-private momentum: Nikkei and Sankei both lead with fund-driven TOB proposals — Kobayashi Pharmaceutical's potential privatization, framed as part of rebuilding governance after the red rice koji supplement health-harm problem, and Hikari Tsushin's ¥270bn Leopalace 21 takeover.
In private equity circles, Private Equity International reports Carlyle is leaning into carve-outs as dealmaking gets more competitive, with industrials, defence and healthcare sectors standing to benefit — reflecting sponsor positioning in a tighter deal environment.
Context & numbers
- Q1 2026 global M&A volumes reached $861.1 billion, the strongest start since 2021 and +9.7% year over year, with a "K-shaped" market in which large transformational deals lead.
- Goldman Sachs holds the #1 US M&A league table slot ($58.3B by LSEG-based counts) for what CT Acquisitions tallies as its 23rd year, with Evercore's FY25 fees of $3.88bn up 29% year-over-year.
- Foley & Lardner describes private equity's "$285 billion shock year," noting real openings for sponsors despite weak exits.
On the radar
- Blackstone shelved a roughly $3bn collateralized fund obligation tied to ageing PE fund stakes — a signal to watch on liquidity for older buyout books.
- Erste Group is planning a tender offer to acquire up to 26% of Erste Bank Polska via its subsidiary, per Investing.com (September 26, 2026).
- Kobayashi Pharmaceutical's board response to the consortium TOB proposal remains unconfirmed — a resolution on whether to adopt the offer is the key Japanese-market event this quarter.
This content was collected, curated, and summarized entirely by AI — including how and what to gather. It may contain inaccuracies. Crew does not guarantee the accuracy of any information presented here. Always verify facts on your own before acting on them. Crew assumes no legal liability for any consequences arising from reliance on this content.
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