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Who's Buying the Future of AI & Robotics: 2026 M&A Report

BY | ETF Database
4:19 am ET 11/04/26 | 17 VIEWS
After several years of cooling appetite for M&A and large IPOs, 2026 has seen a resurgence in both, as well as increased appetite for venture fundraising in robotics and physical AI. Notably, on November 2, Marvell Technology (MRVL) agreed to combine with Lumentum (LITE) for about $115 billion, a month after its investor day lifted its connectivity outlook. Our report tracks deals across the ROBO Global Robotics and Automation Index (ROBO), the ROBO Global Artificial Intelligence Index (THNQ) and the ROBO Global Healthcare Technology and Innovation Index (HTEC).Key Takeaways Members of the ROBO, THNQ and HTEC indices announced 186 acquisitions in 2026 through November 2, worth at least $238.3 billion. At about over $100 billion enterprise value, Marvell’s November 2, 2026 deal for Lumentum is the year’s largest involving a ROBO Global index member. On October 5, 2026, Schneider Electric (SU.PA) agreed to buy PTC (PTC), bringing takeover attempts on ROBO members to 32 since 2013. How Big Was 2026 for M&A?It has been a record-setting year in many ways. Most notably, two records came from SpaceX (SPCX). First, its February merger with xAI valued the combined company at about $1.25 trillion, the largest merger on record. Second, its June listing then raised about $75 billion, the largest IPO ever. Furthermore, we’ve seen the most deal activity overall since 2021 (surpassing that, even), with just under two months remaining. Across the three ROBO Global indices, 87 companies announced 186 acquisitions from January 1 to November 2. Disclosed values add up to at least $238.3 billion.1 Members completed 174 deals over the same stretch. They were also sellers in 23 announced deals, either agreeing to be acquired or selling part of their business. ROBO members announced 93 of those acquisitions, worth at least $54.2 billion. THNQ members announced 74, worth at least $159.1 billion. HTEC members announced 39, worth at least $44.3 billion, led by 16 in diagnostics and life-science tools.Expanding Addressable Markets and Protecting MoatsMany of this year’s deals aim to make companies expand into new markets, solve supply chain vertical integration, or, increasingly, help support faster and cheaper inference in the cloud, edge and in physical autonomous systems. Marvell/Lumentum is the largest example. Marvell’s chips process and drive the signal in an AI data link, and Lumentum’s lasers make the light. Combined, one company could design the whole path from processor to fiber. The deal would also give Marvell its own supply of high-power lasers, which Lumentum expects to stay scarce for the next couple of years. For scale, EY counted $125 billion of U.S. tech M&A in the whole third quarter.2 Smaller deals follow the same logic. Microchip Technology (MCHP), whose microcontrollers run machines and vehicles, bought Hailo, whose processors run AI vision on the device. Advanced Micro Devices (AMD), a maker of AI accelerators, agreed to buy Taalas. According to AMD, Taalas’ inference chips ease the compute and memory bottlenecks of general-purpose processors.Which Index Members Are Being Acquired?Index members were also targets. On October 5, Schneider Electric, which automates factories and powers data centers, agreed to buy PTC, whose software designs and simulates industrial products. Schneider Electric and PTC are both ROBO members, and the deal brings takeover attempts on ROBO members to 32 since 2013.3 THNQ has counted 19 takeouts since 2018, with Lumentum the latest. HTEC has counted 13, including three that closed this year.Follow The Money: Going Into Physical AIPrivate funding set records too. According to the PitchBook-NVCA Venture Monitor, U.S. venture funding reached $515.8 billion in the first nine months of 2026. That is about 44% above 2021’s full-year record, and AI took 82.7% of it. Physical AI drew some of the largest private rounds. In the wider industry, Waymo raised $16 billion for autonomous driving and Skild AI raised $1.4 billion for general-purpose robot AI. SoftBank Group (9984.T), a ROBO and THNQ member, led the Skild AI round. Public markets are opening up too. Agility Robotics, whose Digit humanoids work in GXO warehouses, expects to list on Nasdaq on November 5, the morning of our webcast.Sign Up For the Full Experience: 2026 M&A WebinarRafael Silva and I will walk through the current state of M&A on Thursday, November 5, at 11 a.m. ET (8 a.m. PT). We will cover the six trends behind the deals, the largest transactions, and this year’s healthcare takeouts. We will also look at funding for autonomous driving and robotics, plus what to watch into 2027. Register for Buying the Future: M&A and Partnerships Reshaping AI, Robotics, and Healthcare. The webcast carries one hour of CE credit. The ROBO Global Robotics and Automation Index underlies the ROBO Global Robotics and Automation Index ETF (ROBO). The ROBO Global Artificial Intelligence Index underlies the ROBO Global Artificial Intelligence ETF (THNQ). The ROBO Global Healthcare Technology and Innovation Index underlies the ROBO Global Healthcare Technology and Innovation ETF (HTEC). It is not possible to invest directly in an index. Looking for regular updates? Subscribe here for weekly insights on robotics, AI, and healthcare technology, delivered straight to your inbox. For more news, information, and analysis, visit our Disruptive Technology Content Hub. VettaFi LLC (“VettaFi”) is the index provider for ROBO, THNQ, and HTEC, for which it receives an index licensing fee. However, ROBO, THNQ, and HTEC are not issued, sponsored, endorsed, or sold by VettaFi, and VettaFi has no obligation or liability in connection with the issuance, administration, marketing, or trading of ROBO, THNQ, or HTEC.Notes1 Deal counts and values cover acquisitions announced or completed from January 1 to November 2, 2026, by companies in the October 15, 2026 ETF holdings of ROBO, THNQ and HTEC, from VettaFi Research and FactSet deal records. Values use equity or cash consideration where disclosed and announced enterprise value otherwise; most smaller deals carry no published price, so totals are minimums. Completed deals include some announced before 2026. A company held in more than one strategy counts in each, so strategy figures do not add up to the total, and a deal with members on both sides, such as Marvell/Lumentum, counts once. The 23 selling-side deals cover takeovers of members and sales of member businesses; six of them also had a member as the buyer. 2 About $115 billion is the implied enterprise value of Marvell/Lumentum at announcement, paid in Marvell stock. Marvell expects the deal to close in the first half of 2028, subject to shareholder and regulatory approvals. EY’s $125.0 billion counts U.S. technology deals of $100 million or more in the third quarter of 2026, a different basis. Lumentum discussed laser supply at the Deutsche Bank Technology Conference on August 27, 2026, and the Citi Global TMT Conference on September 9, 2026. 3 ROBO counts takeover attempts on index members since its 2013 inception, including bids that did not complete. THNQ (since 2018) and HTEC count takeouts. All three counts include pending deals. Schneider Electric expects to complete the PTC acquisition in the third quarter of 2027.

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