Overhang of hundreds of ‘missing in auction’ processes to fuel European M&A in 2025 — Dealspeak EMEA
Since M&A markets turned in early 2022, over 300 auctions have failed to get off the ground in Europe’s major economies. That overhang is already fueling some upcoming dealflow but with maturities due and funds expiring, companies that went Missing in Auction (MIA) offer opportunities for M&A, refinancing and secondary deals.
Coming in the midst of the inflation crisis, 2023 was a particularly tough year for unsuccessful auctions with Europe’s much smaller economies nearly matching the US in terms of no-outcome processes. Amid high inflation, expensive financing and valuation mismatches, overall the number of deals dropped 7% further than the significant drop in 2022.
That year, sale processes went quiet for Equistone’s Performance Interactive Alliance, the carve-out of Red Bee Media from Ericsson [STO:ERICB]; and privately owned Weller Tools. Some of the biggest auctions that went Missing in Auction across all years include BC Partners’ VetPartners, Bain’s Centrient Pharmaceuticals, and PAI’s Marcolin.
Mergermarket’s Auctions platform tracks sale processes for companies and carve-outs. Our analysts classify a process as MIA if it launched but saw no update or announcement 180 days after the last reported piece of intelligence. In the above graph, auctions are allocated to the year of the first report of a process. European data captures the UK, DACH, France, Italy, Benelux and Nordics.
The last few years have been particularly tough on sponsor exits, with Equistone and Triton holding the joint highest number of processes that went MIA or saw No Trade (where the process is reported to have failed). That is already having an impact on the GP/LP relationship with Equistone last year halving its fundraising ambitions and laying off senior staff.
In terms of advisors, Houlihan Lokey oversaw the highest number of MIAs and No Trades in Europe at 37, followed by Goldman Sachs, JP Morgan and Rothschild at 27 each.
Sponsors ranked by most MIA and No Trades for European processes
Divestor | Count |
---|---|
Equistone | 5 |
Triton | 5 |
Inflexion | 4 |
Nordic Capital | 4 |
Permira | 4 |
Progressio | 4 |
TowerBrook Capital | 4 |
Bain Capital | 3 |
Capvis | 3 |
CVC | 3 |
Source: Mergermarket data
The sheer number of companies that did not trade is now creating opportunities for new sale attempts, refinancings and GP-led secondaries.
Some are already coming back with all options on the table, including PE-backed Corus Dental weighing a continuation fund or relaunch; KKR’s Hipoges back in the market: and TDR’s BPP set to start a new process after widening options to a refinancing, minority stake sale, and preferred equity raise from the initial position of a majority stake sale.
Continuation funds have been raised for processes that did not reach a sale conclusion, despite LPs preferring to commit to secondary vehicles that hold best-in-class assets. Miura Partners, for example, hired Moelis in 2023 to explore a sale of Proclinic. A year later, it raised a EUR 200m single-asset fund to hold the asset, also advised by Moelis.
Some other processes are coming back much harder and faster for new full sales – with relaunches expected for BYOMA, Jensten Group (Livingbridge) and Olyos (Motion Equity Partners) less than a year after the first attempt due largely to better trading conditions and clean-ups of offerings.
To see a list of ongoing, realised and Missing in Auctions, visit Auctions.