M&A Transaction Insurance Prices End Multi-Year Downtrend, Marsh Report Shows Rates Recovering
Marsh's 2025 Global Transaction Risk Insurance Report shows that as M&A activity warms up and deal sizes expand, transaction risk insurance prices have begun to recover after years of decline. Average premiums for representations and warranties insurance rose 16% in North America, 8% in Asia, and 5% in Europe, while remaining largely flat in the UK and Pacific regions. Craig Schioppo, Marsh's Global Head of Transaction Risk, stated that the price increase is primarily driven by claims activity, but it remains uncertain whether this marks a shift toward a tightening market cycle.
Key Points
- According to Marsh research, transaction risk insurance pricing is beginning to firm after several years of declines, amid a pickup in M&A activity with larger and more complex deals.
- The 2025 Global Transaction Risk Insurance Report shows that pricing rose across all regions in 2025, reversing the post-pandemic downward trend. Average premiums for representations and warranties insurance, which protects buyers and sellers against deal-related losses, rose 16% in North America, 8% in Asia, and 5% in Europe. The UK and Pacific regions were broadly flat after years of declines.
- "The pricing increase is primarily driven by claims activity," said Craig Schioppo, Marsh's global head of transaction risk, in an email. He cautiously characterized the shift as the start of a market tightening cycle, suggesting it more likely reflects pricing returning to levels seen several years ago.
Deeper Dive
The price increases come as global M&A deal value climbed to nearly $5 trillion in 2025, driven largely by a surge in "megadeals," including 70 deals exceeding $10 billion (up 81% year-over-year) and 617 deals above $1 billion, Marsh said.
The insurance brokerage said it arranged a record $91.6 billion in transaction risk insurance limits globally in 2025, up 34% year-over-year, reflecting increased demand for deal protection as transactions grow in size and complexity, with parties increasingly turning to insurance to manage risk.
Meanwhile, M&A-related disputes are also on the rise as deal activity regains momentum and macroeconomic pressures such as interest rate and currency fluctuations increasingly seep into post-closing disputes, according to a recent report from Berkeley Research Group (BRG), a consulting firm based in Emeryville, California.
The firm surveyed more than 200 lawyers, private equity professionals, and corporate financial advisors globally, with approximately 34% of respondents saying indemnification provisions and representations and warranties insurance were involved in disputes last year.
"In the U.S., if you have R&W insurance and there's a post-closing issue, it's almost customary to file a claim and then work it out later," said Frank Dery, a managing director at BRG in Chicago, in the report. "Few ultimately get paid, but the existence of insurance encourages parties to take the first step and file a claim to investigate the issue, which is more likely than when there's no insurance."