Deal Drivers: EMEA provides an in-depth review of M&A activity in 2024 and an outlook for 2025.

A promising if uneven recovery

Overall, 18,523 M&A deals were announced across EMEA last year, up 4% from 2023, while total value rose by 9.9% year-on-year to €927bn. Again, this is still some way off the all-time high of €1.5tn set in 2021 and 14.8% lower than 2022’s reading (€1.1tn), but marks a strong year nonetheless.

Sector focus

EMEA’s TMT sector led the way in 2024 with €194.5bn, up 11.9% year-on-year, buoyed by digital infrastructure investments and telecoms consolidation. Energy, mining & utilities (EMU) followed with a 23.4% year-on-year increase to €126.3bn, driven by the clean energy transition. The financial services sector, meanwhile, saw aggregate deal value surge by 37.2% to €121.4bn amid sustained banking consolidation.

Regional outlook

The UK leads the EMEA region in M&A prospects, generating 364 ‘companies for sale’ stories as tracked by Mergermarket’s heat chart. The DACH region follows closely with 346 prospective deals, fueled by its extensive industrials & chemicals (I&C) sector.

Published in association with Datasite, Deal Drivers EMEA provides an in-depth review of M&A activity in 2024 and an outlook for 2025.

The report is also available on datasite.com.