The adoption of deal insurance continues to accelerate as acquirers (and vendors) race to offset risk in an increasingly uncertain dealmaking environment, says global law firm Norton Rose Fulbright.
In its report, ‘Global M&A trends and risks 2025’, Norton Rose Fulbright says that, taking a global baseline, nearly two-thirds (65%) of respondents expect the use of R&W and W&I insurance to increase in 2025 compared to 2024 (61%), including 37% who expect that the increase will be significant (up from 26%). This trend is observable across all markets.
Sectors
Focusing on sectors, deals involving industrial assets are expected to see the biggest uptick in the use of R&W/ W&I insurance in 2025, attracting 46% of respondents’ top-three votes. This is followed closely by life sciences and healthcare (45%) and technology (42%).
Both industrials and life sciences and healthcare figure much more prominently in this survey than in the previous edition of our research, underlining the increasing pervasiveness of deal insurance.
“Historically, insurers had reservations in respect of certain industries, including industrials and life sciences, because there are lots of risks that are difficult to fully mitigate through due diligence—particularly around intellectual property ownership, and customer and supplier relationships,” said Marshall Bromwich of Norton Rose Fulbright.
“What we’re seeing now is the maturity of the R&W sector. We are also seeing a global expansion in the number of specialist providers. Rates and terms are now more competitive for targets in these industries.”
Deal insurance is already firmly established in some industries. Energy and infrastructure is one of them: just 22% of respondents in the current survey believe that R&W/ W&I insurance in this sector will see the largest increase in the coming 12 months. This compares to 50% in the 2024 edition, suggesting the market for deal insurance within this sector is now approaching saturation point.
In 1Q2025, Mergermarket, a financial news and intelligence service, on behalf of Norton Rose Fulbright, surveyed 200 of the most senior leading executives on the subject of global M&A trends and risks, including 100 C-suite and other top-level executives from multinational corporates—50 from large private equity firms and 50 from major investment banks. 40% of the respondents are headquartered in the US and Canada; 30% in Europe; 15% in Asia; 10% in Australia; and 5% in Africa. M