Private Equity Deal Flow in the DACH Region

The DACH region — Germany, Austria and Switzerland — has become Europe's second-largest private equity buyout market, overtaking France for the first time in 2024. With over 1,400 transactions in H1 2025 alone and a total deal value of €83.6 billion, the German-speaking middle market offers exceptional depth for PE investors. Yet the market remains structurally different from the UK or Nordics: highly fragmented, owner-managed, and driven by a historic succession wave. This page provides a data-driven overview of PE deal flow in the DACH region — for international investors seeking to understand and access this market. For a broader introduction, see dealorigination.de.

DACH PE Market: Key Figures

The DACH private equity market has grown into one of Europe's most active buyout regions. As of H1 2025, the numbers speak for themselves:

Germany accounts for roughly 80% of DACH deal volume, making it the dominant market. Austria and Switzerland are smaller but often offer higher-quality deal flow with less competition — particularly in niche industrial segments. The average deal size of €202M is heavily skewed by mega-deals; the mid-market median sits significantly lower, making DACH especially attractive for funds operating in the €20–200M enterprise value range.

For a detailed breakdown of valuation levels across sectors, see our EBITDA Multiples DACH analysis.

The Succession Wave: 530,000 Companies Seeking Buyers

The single most important structural driver of PE deal flow in the DACH region is the generational succession wave. According to KfW data, approximately 532,000 German SMEs will need a succession solution by 2028. In Austria, roughly 6,500 businesses face this challenge each year; in Switzerland, the figure is around 12,000 annually.

For PE investors, this creates a massive and growing supply of potential acquisition targets — many of which have no structured sale process in place. The average age of managing directors (Geschäftsführer) in the German Mittelstand exceeds 55 in many sectors, and a significant share of business owners have not yet identified a successor. An estimated 40–60% of mid-market transactions are completed off-market, without a formal auction or broker mandate.

This combination of scale, urgency and informality makes the DACH succession wave one of the most compelling deal flow environments in Europe. The funds that benefit most are those with proprietary sourcing capabilities — the ability to identify, approach and build trust with owner-managers before they engage an advisor.

Sector Dynamics: Where the Deals Are

Sector composition in the DACH M&A market has shifted notably. TMT (technology, media and telecoms) accounts for approximately 30% of all transactions — the highest deal count of any sector. Industrial manufacturing, historically the backbone of DACH deal activity, contributed 18% of deal value in H1 2025, down sharply from 35% in H2 2024.

Healthcare remains resilient as a defensive sector with strong buy & build activity, driven by demographic tailwinds and regulatory barriers to entry. Financial services emerged as the largest deal value contributor in H1 2025, propelled by landmark transactions such as Helvetia/Baloise and PAI/Viridium.

For PE funds pursuing platform and add-on strategies, the most attractive sectors are those characterised by high fragmentation and large populations of owner-managed companies:

• IT services & managed services — recurring revenue, structural growth
• Industrial services — stable cash flows, high fragmentation
• Healthcare services — demographic demand, regulatory moats
• Facility management — scalable platforms, local density advantages
• Fire safety & building technology — mission-critical, long customer lifecycles

Sector-specific EBITDA multiples are available in our EBITDA Multiples DACH benchmark. For detailed profiles of each sector, see our sector analysis.

Deal Sourcing Channels in DACH

Deal flow in the DACH region typically originates through three channels, each with distinct characteristics:

The trend is clear: the proprietary share is increasing as PE competition intensifies. Roland Berger identifies “rethinking deal origination” as one of six key PE trends in DACH for 2025. Funds that rely solely on auction flow see the same deals as every other bidder — and pay accordingly.

For strategies on building proprietary channels, see our guide to proprietary deal flow.

Entry Multiples: What International Investors Can Expect

Valuation levels in the DACH market have corrected significantly. According to PwC, the mean EV/EBITDA multiple fell to 8.7x in H1 2025 — down from 14.6x in H2 2024. The median of 7.3x is more representative for mid-market transactions, where mega-deal distortion is absent.

DACH remains attractively priced relative to other European PE markets. The perception of economic stagnation in Germany has depressed valuations, but the underlying fundamentals of the Mittelstand — export orientation, engineering depth, strong cash generation — remain intact. For international investors, this creates a compelling entry window.

Detailed sector-by-sector multiples are available in our EBITDA Multiples DACH benchmark.