Published: August 17, 2026
Amsterdam, August 17, 2026 – Despite all the geopolitical uncertainty, the Dutch M&A market continues to perform well. Although the number of transactions declined slightly, average prices reached historic highs in the first six months of 2026. For larger businesses, the average price paid was even 4.5% higher.
These are the main findings of the Takeover Barometer, the periodic research of acquisition platforms Brookz and Dealsuite on figures and trends in the Dutch takeover market. The survey was conducted among 291 Dutch merger & acquisition advisory firms focusing on businesses with revenues between 0.5 and 50 million euros.
Despite the challenging geopolitical climate, rising labor costs, and fluctuating energy prices, the Dutch M&A market continued to perform well over the past six months. Although the total number of transactions declined slightly—with a 4% decrease in sales transactions—there was a notable increase in the number of larger businesses being sold. The share of transactions with a deal value of €10 million or more rose from 15% to 19%, a relative increase of 27%. The picture also shifted in terms of sectors: Construction & Installation Technology has become the largest sector at 15%, while the share of Business Services fell sharply from 18% to 14%. For the second half of 2026, advisers expect Construction & Installation Technology, Business Services, and Healthcare & Pharmaceuticals to continue growing, while Retail, Media, Advertising & Communications, and software development are expected to remain under pressure.
The average transaction price remained unchanged over the past 6 months. On average, an SME business was acquired in H1-2026 for 5.0 times its EBITDA (approximately 5 times its annual profit). Multiples rose further, particularly for larger SMEs: for businesses with an EBITDA of 10 million euros or more, the average multiple rose to 7.0, an increase of 4.5%. For businesses with an EBITDA of 5 million euros or more, the average multiple rose to 6.1, an increase of 3.4%. The multiples for smaller businesses remained virtually unchanged. As a result, the valuation gap between businesses with a normalized EBITDA of 200,000 euros and businesses with an EBITDA of 10 million euros continues to widen; The multiple for businesses with an EBITDA of 10 million euros (multiple of 7.0) is now nearly twice as high as that for businesses with a normalized EBITDA of 200,000 euros (multiple of 3.6).
Previous research by Brookz had already shown that, according to advisers, unrealistic expectations regarding the selling price are the main reason deals fall through. That is why this edition includes additional questions about this so-called valuation gap: the difference between the seller’s perception of value and the realistic market value. The results show that in 42% of their transaction processes, advisers encounter a seller who consistently overvalues their business. In those cases, the discrepancy between the seller’s expectation and the actual market value averages 23%. In nearly one in five transaction processes (19%), this ultimately leads to the deal falling through.
According to Floyd Plettenberg, CEO of Dealsuite, the valuation gap is partly caused by entrepreneurs blindly adopting average EBITDA multiples. But that leads to unrealistic price expectations. “There is no such thing as an ‘average’ business. Industry and business size play a significant role, along with factors such as revenue predictability, dependence on the owner, and customer diversification. As a result, two businesses with the same revenue and profit can differ significantly in terms of valuation.”
Despite global uncertainty, most M&A advisors are generally optimistic about the M&A market in 2026. More than 80% of M&A advisory firms are optimistic about the next 6 months, primarily due to the robust Dutch economy and the continued demand for well-positioned small and medium-sized businesses (SMEs). When asked to rate their expectations for the second half of 2026, the advisers gave a score of 7.0.
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