EMEA’s M&A market cools off for the summer

Overall, 3,658 deals worth a combined €190.8bn were announced in EMEA in Q3. This represents a 5.2% decrease in volume compared to Q3 2023, and a small 2.5% increase in aggregate value from the same period last year. Compared to the prior quarter, though, there has been a considerable tapering off, with volume and value moving down by 18.3% and 34.8%, respectively, from Q2 2024.

TMT trucks on

Deal activity in Q3 was led by TMT, despite transaction volume in the sector slipping by 6.5% year-on-year to 812 deals. In value terms, TMT led in Q3 with €38.9bn worth of transactions, significantly outperforming the cross-sector average with a 28.9% year-on-year increase.

Corporate slimming

Deutsche Bahn’s decision to divest its logistics business, Schenker, for €14.3bn generated EMEA’s top deal of Q3. Danish competitor DSV acquired the business, which specializes in air and ocean freight, land transport, and contract logistics, offering a suite of supply-chain management services. The deal positions DSV as one of the world’s largest logistics and transport companies.

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.