巴克莱高管：AI热潮有望催生千亿级并购交易

Group 1 - Barclays Bank's global head of mergers and acquisitions, Andrew Woeber, indicates that the arms race in artificial intelligence (AI) increases the likelihood of over $100 billion in merger deals by this time next year [1] - Major tech companies, including Elon Musk's xAI and Meta Platforms, have invested billions in building data centers and related infrastructure to support the growth of AI, with Morgan Stanley estimating that such spending could exceed $3 trillion over the next three years [1] - If a $100 billion deal occurs, it would be the largest since AT&T's approximately $110 billion acquisition of Time Warner in 2018 [1] Group 2 - Since June, the total value of announced global deals has surpassed $1 trillion, breaking the typical summer slowdown trend and marking the highest total for this period since the record set in 2021 [2] - This period includes the largest announced deal of 2025, where Union Pacific agreed to acquire Norfolk Southern for over $80 billion [2] - Woeber notes a significant shift in client sentiment from caution to confidence and action, with a marked acceleration in deal activity over the past few months [2] Group 3 - Barclays Bank is reportedly achieving success, having participated in some of the largest deals this year, including Alphabet's $32 billion acquisition of cybersecurity startup Wiz and Constellation Energy's approximately $29 billion acquisition of Calpine [3] - The list of potential deals that Barclays is handling is increasing rapidly [3]