European M&A Deals 2023: Global trends and growth drivers

European M&A Deals:

The overall landscape in the mid-market sector remains robust going into 2025

Global mergers and acquisitions (M&A) activity in 2024 continued to show resilience in the middle market despite a subdued market generally. A number of challenges created uncertainty, not least the impact of the volume of political elections across Europe.

Across the continent we saw 712 transactions completed by RSM Network Firms in the 12 months ended December 2024.

Indications for 2025 are promising with cautious optimism based on a more active H2 2024 generally and the current ongoing activity particularly with private equity where dry powder levels remain high. Buyers will continue to be selective looking to specific sectors to invest capital where the opportunities are strongest.

Our series of M&A insights from global experts across the RSM network delves into the key trends we will see for the year ahead including within industry sectors.

Our insights additionally include the impacts of technology, the rise of data analytics in building detailed value insights on businesses pre completion and the continued drive of bolt-on deals.

The nature of the market will continue to present opportunity to those with the most agility to take advantage of opportunities and find creative solutions to get deals done.