top of page
Search

๐Œ&๐€ ๐Œ๐จ๐ง๐ข๐ญ๐จ๐ซ ๐€๐ฎ๐ ๐ฎ๐ฌ๐ญ ๐Ÿ๐ŸŽ๐Ÿ๐Ÿ“ โ€“ ๐Š๐ž๐ฒ ๐“๐š๐ค๐ž๐š๐ฐ๐š๐ฒ๐ฌ ๐Ÿ๐จ๐ซ ๐ƒ๐€๐‚๐‡ ๐’๐Œ๐„๐ฌ (by Dealsuite.com)

  • Writer: ekwithree
    ekwithree
  • Aug 26, 2025
  • 2 min read

We recently reviewed ๐Œ&๐€ ๐Œ๐จ๐ง๐ข๐ญ๐จ๐ซ ๐€๐ฎ๐ ๐ฎ๐ฌ๐ญ ๐Ÿ๐ŸŽ๐Ÿ๐Ÿ“ byย Dealsuite.com, which analyzes data and trends for SMEs in the DACH region (revenues โ‚ฌ1Mโ€“50M), based on input from 498 M&A advisors.


๐Ÿ”น ๐“๐ซ๐š๐ง๐ฌ๐š๐œ๐ญ๐ข๐จ๐ง ๐€๐œ๐ญ๐ข๐ฏ๐ข๐ญ๐ฒ

ย โ–ช๏ธH1 2025 showed a slight increase in transactions compared to H2 2024, signaling stabilization after last yearโ€™s slowdown.

ย โ–ช๏ธThe SME market continues to prove resilient despite ongoing uncertainties.


๐Ÿ”น ๐ƒ๐ž๐š๐ฅ ๐’๐ข๐ณ๐ž & ๐•๐š๐ฅ๐ฎ๐š๐ญ๐ข๐จ๐ง๐ฌ

ย โ–ช๏ธAverage deal size increased, driven by an 8% rise in deals over โ‚ฌ10M.

ย โ–ช๏ธSmaller transactions (esp. โ‚ฌ2.5โ€“5M) declined.

ย โ–ช๏ธAverage EBITDA multiples remained stable at ๐Ÿ“.๐Ÿ“๐Ÿ“๐ฑ, ranging from ๐Ÿ.๐Ÿ–๐ฑ ๐ข๐ง ๐ซ๐ž๐ญ๐š๐ข๐ฅ to ๐Ÿ–.๐Ÿ—๐ฑ ๐ข๐ง ๐ฌ๐จ๐Ÿ๐ญ๐ฐ๐š๐ซ๐ž ๐๐ž๐ฏ๐ž๐ฅ๐จ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ž๐ง๐ญ.

ย โ–ช๏ธLarger EBITDA companies secure significantly higher multiples โ€“ e.g., โ‚ฌ10M EBITDA businesses trade at 70% higher multiples than โ‚ฌ200k EBITDA ones.


๐Ÿ”น ๐’๐ž๐œ๐ญ๐จ๐ซ ๐Ž๐ฎ๐ญ๐ฅ๐จ๐จ๐ค

ย โ–ช๏ธStrongest growth expected in ๐ฌ๐จ๐Ÿ๐ญ๐ฐ๐š๐ซ๐ž ๐๐ž๐ฏ๐ž๐ฅ๐จ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ž๐ง๐ญ, followed by ๐ก๐ž๐š๐ฅ๐ญ๐ก๐œ๐š๐ซ๐ž/๐ฉ๐ก๐š๐ซ๐ฆ๐š and ๐›๐ฎ๐ฌ๐ข๐ง๐ž๐ฌ๐ฌ ๐ฌ๐ž๐ซ๐ฏ๐ข๐œ๐ž๐ฌ.

ย โ–ช๏ธDeclines anticipated in automotive, transport & logistics, retail, tourism & leisure.


๐Ÿ”น ๐…๐ข๐ง๐š๐ง๐œ๐ข๐ง๐  & ๐Œ๐š๐ซ๐ค๐ž๐ญ ๐ƒ๐ฒ๐ง๐š๐ฆ๐ข๐œ๐ฌ

ย โ–ช๏ธFinancing conditions have slightly worsened vs. H2 2024, expected to remain tight in H2 2025. Well-prepared financing strategies are becoming critical.

ย โ–ช๏ธAverage number of interested buyers per company stayed steady at ~๐Ÿ—.๐Ÿ• ๐ข๐ง ๐‡๐Ÿ ๐Ÿ๐ŸŽ๐Ÿ๐Ÿ“.


๐Ÿ”น ๐“๐ž๐œ๐ก๐ง๐จ๐ฅ๐จ๐ ๐ฒ ๐ข๐ง ๐Œ&๐€

ย โ–ช๏ธAI is now an essential tool across M&A processes.

ย โ–ช๏ธHowever, post-merger integration remains largely human-driven, with limited AI impact reported so far.


๐Ÿ“Š Overall: The DACH SME market shows ๐ฌ๐ญ๐š๐›๐ข๐ฅ๐ข๐ญ๐ฒ ๐ฐ๐ข๐ญ๐ก ๐ฌ๐ž๐ฅ๐ž๐œ๐ญ๐ข๐ฏ๐ž ๐ ๐ซ๐จ๐ฐ๐ญ๐ก ๐จ๐ฉ๐ฉ๐จ๐ซ๐ญ๐ฎ๐ง๐ข๐ญ๐ข๐ž๐ฌ, especially in software and healthcare. Financing challenges remain, but resilient valuations highlight ongoing investor appetite.


๐Ÿ”Ž ๐ž๐ค๐ฐ๐ข๐ญ๐ก๐ซ๐ž๐ž ๐ฉ๐ž๐ซ๐ฌ๐ฉ๐ž๐œ๐ญ๐ข๐ฏ๐ž

โ–ถ๏ธ The SME market continues to prove resilient despite ongoing uncertainties - reassuring for us at ekwithree as we actively invest in this segment.

โฉ Strongest growth is expected in software development, healthcare/pharma, and business services - with ekwithree investing in healthcare, pharma, and professional B2B services, we are positioned in the right growth areas.

โธ๏ธ Financing conditions remain tight - highlighting the importance of a stable financial partner. At ekwithree, we invest our own capital, ensuring stability and credibility.

โซ AI is becoming essential in M&A processes - we have already shared our first LinkedIn insight on this topic and will continue to showcase how we use AI in our work.


Many thanks toย Dealsuite.comย for delivering another great report.




ย 
ย 
bottom of page