The volume of the M&A market with a threshold of $1 million in October 2025 decreased by more than a third compared to the result of the same month of the previous year. The total value of transactions during the period decreased by 34.9%, amounting to $4.86 billion against $7.47 billion a year earlier. This is stated in the bulletin "Market of Mergers and Acquisitions" of the AK&M News Agency (issue No. 332)
The number of transactions also decreased by 17.5%: 33 transactions took place in the reporting period, compared with 40 a year earlier. In ruble terms, the amount of transactions in October decreased by 46% to 391.28 billion rubles from 724.57 billion rubles a year earlier.
At the same time, more than a half of the market volume was accounted for by the nationalization of assets by court decision. AK&M recorded six such transactions in October, including the two largest and the fifth-largest transaction in the month. Their share relative to the total volume of October transactions was 59.2%, or $2879.5 million. We remind you that assets nationalized by the court are assessed by the amount of the established damage caused by the defendant to the state. The volume of nationalizations in October was the highest in a month in 2025.
In addition, a negative value transaction was completed in October.: Back in January, the court converted 17 companies of the British Raven Russia to the income of the Russian Federation without specifying the damage, the estimated loss of the owners amounted to $919.2 million. At the same time, legal proceedings were underway around the asset until October. The transaction is entered into our database separately and is not taken into account when calculating the market volume.
During the period, only one major transaction worth more than $1 billion was recorded — the nationalization of the asset by a court decision, which ended in July, but the court proceedings dragged on until October. Thus, the court seized 67.85% of the Yuzhuralzoloto group of companies from billionaire Konstantin Strukov for state revenue, the damage was estimated by the court at $1991.8 million.
The second and third largest deals were below $1 billion. The second largest is also among the nationalizations. The court seized the Vostok-1 Fishing Collective Farm for state revenue, and the damage from illegal privatization amounted to $467.1 million. The third most expensive transaction was a commercial one in the fuel and energy sector: Gazprom Neft sold a 50% stake in the former joint venture Salym Petroleum Development LLC to the structures of businessman Gennady Timchenko for an estimated $434.8 million.
The price of realizable assets increased significantly: the average transaction cost (excluding the largest) increased by 31.9% to $89.6 million from $67.9 million (excluding the largest) in the same period of 2024.
AK&M believes that the trend towards nationalization of assets will only gain momentum, however, it is currently not possible to predict the volume and number of such transactions in the future.
Read more about the results of the M&A market in issue No. 332 of the monthly bulletin "Mergers and Acquisitions Market" of the AK&M News Agency. Subscribers of the newsletter have been provided with a complete database of M&A transactions with Russian assets for free since 2012. You can subscribe to the newsletter at the agency's office by sending an application to ma@akm.ru and through the Ural Press subscription agency (subscription index - 011670).
All the agency's newsletters and the database of deals can be found in the AK&M Analytical Newsletters and Research Store.
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