Main seller drivers on European M&A market 2025| ��ƽ��

Greatest sell-side drivers of M&A activity in Europe according to M&A experts in 2025

Characteristic	Rank 1	Rank 2
Private equity divestments	25%	11%
Distress-driven M&A	22%	16%
Non-core asset sales from larger companies	20%	22%
A pick-up in valuations	16%	12%
Succession issues	9%	22%
Capital raising for expansion in faster growing areas	8%	17%

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Sources

Release date

September 2025

More information

Region

Europe

Survey time period

Q2 2025

Number of respondents

150 respondents

Special properties

Senior executives from 240 corporates and 90 PE firms based in Europe, in the Americas and in Asia-Pacific

Supplementary notes

Respondents could select up to two answer categories.

The source surveyed senior executives from 182 corporates and 68 PE firms based in Europe, the Americas and APAC regions about their expectations for the European M&A market in the year ahead.

Citation formats

According to a survey conducted among merger and acquisition (M&A) experts in Europe, the Americas, and Asia-Pacific, Private equity divestments was indicated as the biggest sell-side driver of European M&A activity in the next 12 months. This garnered the largest share of first-choice votes, with 25 percent, closely followed by distress-driven M&A with 22 percent, and Non-core asset sales from larger companies with 20 percent. Private equity (PE) divestments had 11 percent of second-choice votes.