Buyer Trends in the Middle Market
Firmex Focus is the first part of our reimagined deal trends research project to serve middle-market M&A advisors. Over 200 M&A practitioners globally have contributed their perspectives and commentary.
Firmex Focus: Buyer Trends Q4 2024 Key Highlights
- Middle-market merger advisors continue to see the reluctance of buyers as a constraint on the M&A market, saying that there are currently more sellers than buyers.
- Private equity and other financial players dominate the market, with three-quarters of advisors seeing them frequently. Private corporations and individuals are the next most common.
- PE-related deals—buying platform companies and then fill-in acquisitions—are the most common buyer strategies. Distressed asset purchases, which had been growing rapidly last year, are now relatively rare.
- Technology and healthcare are the industries that buyers seek most. Advisors see growth in energy and industrial deals.
- Advisors expect a significant increase in the number of buyers over the next six months, driven by lower interest rates, pressure for corporate growth, and the need for PE firms to produce returns.