This article investigates the effect of geographical, industrial, organizational and institutional proximity on the probability that any two firms located in Italy engage in a mergers and acquisitions (M&A) deal. Within a logistic rare event framework, we investigate 4261 actual deals completed over the period 2000–2011 and around 3.8 million potential deals. We find robust evidence that all forms of proximity have a positive effect, especially industrial relatedness. Moreover, we find evidence that proximities generate asymmetric effects on M&A deals, depending on the location of bidders and targets and on whether some specific individual characteristics are featured by the acquirer or by the target firm.