The Current State of M&A Advisory Fees
In partnership with DealCircle, the European edition uses data from Firmex’s 7th annual M&A Fee Guide 2023-2024 survey and is an authoritative source on M&A fees for sell-side engagements in the middle market.
Informed Conversations on M&A Fees
In reading the guide, M&A advisors and business owners will learn valuable insights on the expectations, negotiations, structuring, and associated practices surrounding M&A fees.
Key Highlights from Firmex’s M&A European Fee Guide 2023-2024
- 59% of European middle-market merger advisors increased fee levels in 2023, prompted mainly by rising costs and a more difficult dealmaking environment.
- Many firms have also modified their fee structure to emphasize recurring engagement fees to mitigate the risk of deals that take a long time to complete or never close.
- The growing use of earn-outs and complex deal structures is prompting firms to redefine how they calculate and collect success fees.
- Middle-market firms have been able to hold their fee revenue steady and, for half of them, increase it even as business at larger investment banks continues to fall off.
- Profitability largely held up despite rising costs. Those that increased fee levels were two and a half times as likely to grow profits than those that didn’t.
