AI

With tens of thousands of CPA firms across the country, investors see consolidation opportunities to build national platforms, write Houlihan Lokey's Matthew Dodd, Patrick Hughes and Shivan Arora.

Speculation about mega-sized AI IPOs has growing numbers of VC-backed companies also queueing up to go public, while increasing demand for scale and strategic growth is expected to be a key factor in M&A activity.

Artificial intelligence is becoming increasingly sophisticated as large language models are equipped with contextual reasoning capabilities.

Private equity managers are once again hoping to break the dealmaking dam in the year ahead.

Funding to AI-related start-ups spiked 75% to $203bn from 2024, with foundation model companies representing 40% of that globally and US companies dominating.

Annual enterprise spending on AI has surged from just $1.7bn in 2023 to $37bn in 2025, as companies see 'real revenue and productivity gains at scale,' Menlo Ventures says in its third annual report on generative AI in the enterprise.

Thirteen IPOs by AI expansion-stage companies in the first three quarters represent less than 10% of the total exit count, but nearly 87% of total exit value.

Short-term and increasingly passive public markets aren’t always the right fit for major transformations, particularly those being driven by trends such as decarbonisation and AI.