DACH region offers the most deal opportunities within Europe, report finds

Following up from their global research in October 2019, Baker Tilly International returned to the market to ask questions about investment intentions and views on M&A in Europe. Their feedback has helped paint a picture – in the European M&A market update 2020 – of the trends and challenges shaping the region and markets. They commissioned Acuris Studios, the publishing division of Acuris, to canvas the opinions of 60 dealmakers to gauge their opinions on M&A opportunities, trends and challenges in Europe especially after pandemic exploded and uncertainty around this new challenge has shaken markets.

It comes out that Europe offers diverse advanced and emerging market opportunities. Most respondents (88%) say the DACH (Germany, Austria and Switzerland) economies offer the most deal opportunities within Europe. «Despite growing political and economic pressures, dealmaking has held up surprisingly with totals of 1,251 deals valued at US$145bn for 2019. While this was a decline of 6% by volume and 16% by value from 2018 (1,327 deals valued at US$172bn)», the report underlines.  For 2019, DACH accounted for 16% of deal volumes and 19% of deal values in Europe. Finally, respondents also say that DACH companies may be ahead of the curve, having adopted advanced tech and best practices to make them regional, if not global, leaders in their industries.