DACH buyouts continue recovery from Q2 2020 low

Harriet Matthews
23 April 2021

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Figures from Unquote Data show that buyout dealflow in the DACH region has continued to recover from the low point seen in Q2 2020 at the onset of the pandemic.

Aggregate deal value in the DACH region has risen steadily since the three-year low point of €3.6bn across 36 buyouts in Q2 2020.

Q1 2021 saw 54 buyouts totalling almost €14.4bn, an impressive figure considering Q1 2020 saw 42 buyouts totalling €24.5bn, the majority of which was composed of the €17.2bn Thyssenkrupp Elevator buyout. The market is evidently off to a healthy start at the beginning of this year.

In fact, both deal volume and value are now back on par with that seen in Q4 2019, the last pre-pandemic quarter that ended a record year for the DACH region.

Buyouts in Q1 were split almost 50:50 between small-cap deals of less than €50m and deals valued at more than €50m, with smaller deals slightly in the lead. However, this bucks the trend seen in 2020 as a whole, a year in which deals valued at less than €25m alone composed 43% of buyouts by volume, as reported.

In 2020, the DACH region saw six buyouts valued at more than €1bn; three such buyouts have already been recorded in Q1 alone.

In terms of sector, the region saw two large-cap deals in consumer goods and services in Q1; this sector made up more than a third of dealflow by value, with the buyouts of footwear business Birkenstock and eyewear producer Rodenstock accounting for much of this. The basic materials sector is also over-represented by value, although not by deal volume, due to the CHF 4.2bn carve-out of Lonza Specialty ingredients.

According to Unquote sister publication Mergermarket, large-cap processes that are expected to launch in the region in the coming months include BC Partners' sale of pharmaceutical contract business Aenova, as well as Astorg's Switzterland-based industrial software platform Autoform.

In spite of the promising numbers, a rise in coronavirus infection rates in Germany means that the resumption of business as usual is not yet assured, and the pain is not yet over for businesses operating in sectors that suffer significantly under lockdowns. Nevertheless, it is still likely that larger deals will be easier to do in 2021 as market players have adapted to the challenges posed by the pandemic, and vaccination programmes engender a light at the end of the tunnel.