M&A market
Insights
Welcome to our M&A market Insight – Q1 2026
Momentum that built through the second half of 2025, particularly in Q4, has carried into the early part of this year, with activity levels and pipeline strength materially improved. After nearly three years of uncertainty, unpredictability and high interest rates, there was the appetite for an increase in M&A activity and therefore M&A hires. Tariff-related uncertainties lingered, though by Q4 they had largely faded.
A large proportion of the work was Exit/ Sale Preparation work, getting ready for deals to kick off 2026. I think it’s fair to say many assets need to find buyers, though finding the right valuation still remains a challenge. We had regular hires around preparing for VDD (Vendor Due Diligence), with the extra scrutiny on acquisitions on the back of three bad years for investments and new AI DD (Due Diligence) tools that generate more question at a faster rate than ever before.
Buy side work did also see an uptick in activity, especially around business/ professional services. Consolidation is still the focus for many PE backed professional services mid-market players and the opportunities that drives.
In summary, the trajectory established at the end of last year now feels sustained rather than short-term, with the direction of travel materially more positive than this time last year.
Steve Clarke
Partner – CFO, Finance, M&A/ Corp Development & Strategy
Post-merger integration/ Mid-market private equity
UK mid-market PE had a quieter year in 2025 compared to the preceding year, with a significant contraction in both deal volumes and values, bolt-on acquisition and smaller deals seemingly the order of the day, mainly driven by the constant macroeconomic and geopolitical headwinds. With a lack of dry powder being deployed at one end of the spectrum, and with longer hold periods at the other, value creation in existing portcos became vital, shoring up assets against headwinds, and ensuring they were as streamlined and efficient as possible.
Conversations over recent months suggest pipelines are not only active, but in many cases stretched. Towards the end of last year, it was encouraging to see that legal advisers and deal professionals were extremely active, with full, even bulging (in some cases), pipelines, and buy-side DD in particular seeing a marked increase. Geopolitically, instability clearly remains but from a macro-economic standpoint at least, interest rates are now at their lowest level in almost three years, and finance conditions appear more favourable, all of which goes some way to buoying a growing confidence in the market.
Deployment levels are already trending ahead of last year, and with the right conditions now in place, dry powder looks set to move off the sidelines more decisively than it did in 2025. Further, and anecdotally, it appears the delta in terms of value expectations between buyer and seller is finally starting to narrow, with a more common-sense approach seemingly taking hold. In terms of ‘hot’ sectors, it is likely that professional services, and consolidation within that space, will continue apace, with the usual suspects of technology & software, health tech, and real estate services, continuing to do well given growth fundamentals in each remain robust.
Stuart Jansze
Partner, Interim Management, Business Transformation Practice
Post-merger activities and HR integration
The year has started with tangible signs of renewed confidence in deal activity. Whilst there was a cautious start to 2025 thanks to a number of challenges including geopolitical risk, tariffs and interest rates, the year certainly ended positively. Activity greatly increased during Q4 in particularly and from a HR angle, this was heavily weighted towards post-deal integration activities.
Early Q1 demand reinforces that integration and efficiency programmes remain front of mind. So far, we continue to hear from clients seeking support in the post-deal acquisition phase for support with integration, operating model redesign and efficiency projects. With a strong deal pipeline in place we can expect this to continue into the new year, with a focus on integration and driving efficiencies remaining a key focus.
Whilst big global deals have caught the eye in the press, for Eton Bridge, we have certainly seen more activity within the small and mid cap clients, with a particular focus on digital, AI and technology sectors, as well as smaller Biotech clients becoming increasingly popular for investors.
It’s expected that more dry powder from PE firms will be deployed this year and consequently, demand will increase for specialists within the people related elements, such as integration, organisational design and operating models.
Andy Montgomery
Partner, Interim Management, Human Resources Practice
Supply chain and procurement M&A
Appetite for M&A has strengthened materially compared to this time last year. Much of the focus was on discrete value-creation and transformation projects, driven by a mismatch between buying and selling expectations and a more cautious deal environment. That dynamic now feels more positive, with improved alignment on pricing and several significant transactions already agreed.
As Stuart Cable, vice chair of Goodwin Procter and global head of its M&A practice recently noted, “There’s no reason to be anything other than highly optimistic,” pointing to a strong pipeline of deals heading into 2026. As a result, we expect increased levels of post-merger integration and rationalisation activity to gather pace through the year. This places procurement in an increasingly strategic role at the due diligence stage, supporting deal teams by validating cost and synergy assumptions early and shaping credible value-creation plans.
At the same time, supply chain and operations considerations will be critical to successful integration, particularly as organisations look to align planning processes, rationalise suppliers and optimise inventory across combined entities. This work is taking place against a backdrop of ongoing geopolitical uncertainty, including nervousness around US political tensions, making supply chain resilience, data quality and operational visibility essential components of both deal strategy and post-deal execution.
Ross Dawson
Practice Lead, Procurement, Supply Chain & Operations
Commercial, Sales & Marketing
From a commercial, sales and marketing perspective, 2025 was characterised by CEOs and CFOs’ frustration at sales objectives being missed, specifically post M&A activity. While acquisitions had driven revenue growth, organic growth often lagged behind, and the reasons were not always immediately clear.
Post M&A activity, businesses found themselves managing portfolios of brands, products and propositions that lacked alignment, and in some cases competed internally. Differing commercial operating models and sales structures limited cross-sell and upsell opportunities, while customers were unclear on what the merged business and brands represented. Boards have expressed frustration that the new opportunities and investment created by M&A activity have not been understood by the customers they serve, and that key messages were not translating into meaningful market traction.
Commercial, sales and marketing functions are the growth engine of any organisation, but sustainable performance depends on a cohesive strategy that spans brand positioning, sales conversion and customer lifetime value. Operating in silos post M&A can constrain growth, with the consequences often emerging only once sales decline or customers are lost – sometimes years after acquisition.
In a more buoyant M&A market, organisations that align their commercial functions to support clear growth objectives will be best placed to outperform, converting acquisition momentum into sustainable organic growth.. The key to success is acting proactively, capitalising on organic revenue opportunities, rather than retrospectively fixing the engine once targets are being missed. As a result, commercial, sales and marketing leaders experienced in aligning post M&A brands, products and teams into effective growth engines will continue to be in high demand.
Sam Curran
Associate Partner, Interim Management, Finance, Commercial Sales & Marketing Practices
You can view last quarter’s M&A Insights here
Please do get in touch if you’d like to find out more about how we can support your business, whether it’s through interim or permanent M&A appointments or consulting advice.
