Why Apollo’s Zelter Sees M&A Strength Amid US Economic Resilience

The US economy kept an “amazingly resilient” pace through 2025 despite widespread global uncertainty. Apollo Global Management President Jim Zelter highlighted recent 2025 M&A strength as a signal for what’s coming in 2026. But the narrative isn’t just about deal volumes—it’s about how economic resilience frees up capital that triggers self-reinforcing market activity. “Resilience unlocks leverage beyond balance sheets,” Zelter noted.

Challenging the View That M&A Strength Means Only More Deals

Conventional wisdom frames a strong M&A market as just increased merger and acquisition volume driven by cheap debt or opportunistic buyers. That’s incomplete. The core mechanism here is a resilient underlying economy serving as a constraint release. Strong US consumer spending and corporate earnings in 2025 created stable cashflows that lowered risk premiums, reducing friction across financing and deal structuring.

This dynamic contrasts with 2024’s tech downturn, which exposed structural leverage failures caused by overstretched growth models. Apollo’s position reflects a more systemic leverage advantage rather than isolated balance sheet maneuvers.

How Economic Resilience Creates a Compounding M&A Feedback Loop

When corporate earnings remain strong, firms can issue debt more cheaply while maintaining credit quality. This lowers the cost of capital and fuels higher deal valuations, driving more M&A activity. Unlike peers who depend solely on financial engineering, Apollo leverages this system-level economic robustness to source deals with inherent cashflow leverage.

This contrasts with countries experiencing debt fragility, like Senegal’s S&P downgrade, where economic constraints tighten financing and choke deal flow. The US advantage extends beyond cheap debt—it is a structural leverage position anchored in economic fundamentals.

The Strategic Constraints Shift Behind 2026 Expectations

Jim Zelter signals that 2026’s opportunity lies not in chasing volume but in exploiting this systemic strength. The key constraint has shifted from financing scarcity to deal sourcing and operational integration. Firms that build scalable playbooks to execute post-deal improvements without heavy human intervention will compound returns faster than those stuck in legacy manual processes.

That’s why dynamic organizational design is vital, allowing portfolio companies to grow efficiently after acquisition. This systemic leverage amplifies value creation beyond mere financial engineering.

Looking Ahead: Who Controls Economic Resilience Controls M&A Leverage

The horizon for 2026 winners is clear: firms able to position themselves within resilient economies and capitalize on released financing constraints will unlock compounding competitive advantages. This strategic positioning is harder to replicate than synthetic deal volume or cheap borrowing.

Private equity players like Apollo that blend capital with operational scale and adaptive integration systems will convert resilience into long-term leverage. “Resilience unlocks leverage beyond balance sheets,” and that’s the mechanism reshaping the US M&A landscape as we enter 2026.

Related Tools & Resources

For businesses navigating the complexities of M&A in a resilient economy, leveraging tools like Apollo can provide the necessary sales intelligence. With its B2B database and prospecting capabilities, companies can identify the right opportunities and optimize their deal sourcing efforts, aligning perfectly with the strategic insights discussed in this article. Learn more about Apollo →

Full Transparency: Some links in this article are affiliate partnerships. If you find value in the tools we recommend and decide to try them, we may earn a commission at no extra cost to you. We only recommend tools that align with the strategic thinking we share here. Think of it as supporting independent business analysis while discovering leverage in your own operations.

Frequently Asked Questions

What factors contributed to M&A strength in the US economy in 2025?

The US economy displayed "amazingly resilient" growth in 2025, supported by strong consumer spending and corporate earnings. This stability lowered risk premiums and financing frictions, enabling higher merger and acquisition activity.

How does economic resilience impact M&A leverage beyond traditional balance sheets?

Economic resilience increases firms' ability to issue cheaper debt while maintaining credit quality, which lowers capital costs and drives higher deal valuations, creating a compounding feedback loop of M&A activity not solely reliant on financial engineering.

What shift in constraints is expected for M&A deal-making in 2026?

The main shift in 2026 is from financing scarcity to challenges in deal sourcing and operational integration. Firms that adopt scalable, dynamic organizational designs will better capitalize on M&A opportunities.

How does Apollo Global Management view its M&A strategy amid US economic resilience?

Apollo leverages systemic economic strength and operational scale rather than isolated financial maneuvers, focusing on sourcing deals with inherent cashflow leverage and adaptive integration systems to compound long-term returns.

How did 2024’s tech downturn highlight differences in leverage compared to 2025?

2024’s tech downturn exposed structural leverage failures due to overstretched growth models, contrasting with 2025’s more stable economic fundamentals which lowered risk and enabled a stronger M&A environment.

What role does dynamic organizational design play in post-merger growth?

Dynamic organizational design helps portfolio companies grow efficiently post-acquisition by reducing dependence on manual processes, enabling faster compounding of returns and amplified value creation after deals.

Why is controlling economic resilience important for M&A success?

Firms positioned within resilient economies can better exploit released financing constraints, unlocking competitive advantages that are more durable and harder to replicate than merely leveraging cheap borrowing or synthetic deal volume.

How does Apollo’s approach differ from firms in countries with debt fragility?

Unlike countries with debt fragility like Senegal, where financing constraints choke deal flow, Apollo benefits from US structural economic leverage that supports consistent deal sourcing and financing underpinned by strong fundamentals.