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ACORD (New York) has found that nearly one-third of global carrier mergers and acquisitions destroy shareholder value, underscoring ongoing execution challenges despite shifting deal strategies. The study, Carrier Mergers & Acquisitions: Drivers, Implications & Outcomes, which examined nearly 500 transactions across 84 countries between July 2023 and December 2025, found that 68 percent of deals created value, while 32 percent resulted in value destruction, based on total shareholder return relative to the MSCI World Index.

“For transactions that fell short, value destruction was driven primarily by execution, not deal logic,” says Dave Sterner, SVP, Research and Development, ACORD. “Without disciplined value-capture management, synergies identified in diligence often dissipate during integration.”

The findings point to a gap between strategic intent and operational delivery, particularly as deal sizes increase and integration complexity grows.

“The underperformance of scale and scope as a buyer motivation highlights the difficulties of achieving scale-related benefits through M&A,” Sterner says. “Increasing scale only amplifies what already exists, including inherent limitations and challenges; it rarely transforms.”

According to the report, scale- and scope-driven transactions—historically among the most common rationales for M&A—were the only category to produce negative returns on average, reflecting overestimated synergies and underappreciated integration risk.

“Scale benefits are often overestimated, while cost synergies are smaller than projected,” Sterner adds. “Integration risks are also systematically underpriced, and diseconomies of scale are overlooked.”

By contrast, capability-driven deals, while representing a smaller share of transactions, delivered the strongest returns, suggesting a shift toward more targeted acquisition strategies. Diversification has also emerged as the most common motivation, accounting for 41 percent of transactions and generating positive returns.

Discipline as Defining Deal Differentiator

At the same time, overall deal activity has declined from prior peaks, while average deal size has increased, indicating a move toward fewer, larger and more complex transactions.

“As insurance M&A continues to evolve toward fewer, larger and more complex deals, disciplined execution will remain the defining differentiator between transactions that close and those that deliver lasting results,” Sterner says.

ACORD says the findings highlight the need for carriers to focus on integration planning, governance and operational discipline to sustain value creation as consolidation continues across the global insurance sector.

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