Over the past six months, demand for businesses has remained as high as ever. In all sectors, demand exceeds supply. On average, for an SME business in the shop window, there are currently 6 seriously interested buying candidates.
This is one of the results of the Brookz Takeover Barometer, the periodic research by takeover platform Brookz on figures and trends in the takeover market. The survey was carried out among 265 merger & acquisition advisers (approx. 1,200 advisers) who together represent more than 90% of the SME takeover market (businesses with revenues between 0.5 and 25 million euros).
Most buyers for IT & Online businesses
For IT & Online businesses, most buyers are lining up. On average, for an IT & Online business on sale, there are at least 10 seriously interested buying candidates. Other high interest sectors include Manufacturing & Production (average 8.1 buy candidates), Healthcare & Pharmaceuticals (average 7.4 buy candidates) and Business Services (average 6.7 buy candidates). Sectors with the least average interest are businesses in the Retail Trade sector (3.2 buy candidates), Hospitality, Tourism & Recreation (4.6 buy candidates) and Automotive, Transport & Logistics (4.8 buy candidates).
Ultimate selling moment
Although the number of transactions in the past six months was the highest ever, it did not increase further compared to the previous period. In the previous Barometer, an increase of 11% was recorded compared to the previous half year; now the increase is zero. So the top seems to have been reached. Floyd Plettenberg, partner at Brookz and responsible for the Takeover Barometer, analyzes, "The number of transactions has remained constant in the past half year, but the takeover prices paid have increased again in that period. This indicates the slow emergence of scarcity in supply. The high number of interested parties per business supports that statement. You could speak of an ultimate sales moment from a market perspective."
