Q3 2026 | Market Insights from our M&A Sector Heads
We are pleased to present MCF’s latest Vertical Heads Insight Newsletter, offering perspectives from our sector leaders across Business Services, Consumer, Industrials, and Technology. Drawing on recent market activity and expert observations, this edition provides an overview of how Q3 2026 has unfolded.
Private equity activity picked up noticeably this quarter, with sellers bringing more assets to market in Business Services and buyers selectively returning to back quality, cash-generative platforms in Technology. At the same time, headline consumer deal volumes fell sharply as buyers grew more cautious about earnings resilience and growth visibility, underscoring how uneven the recovery remains across sectors.
Looking ahead, strong order books in Industrials and renewed sponsor appetite point to further momentum building into year-end, even as parts of the market stay selective.
BUSINESS SERVICES
We experienced a promising uptick in activity during Q3, with financial sponsors increasingly active on the sell-side, suggesting M&A activity will continue to build over the coming quarters.
Key investment criteria such as recurring revenue, asset-light business models and AI-readiness remain unchanged for investors. It is also evident that AI has shifted investor focus back toward more classical, blue-collar, AI-defensive sectors such as industrial services, where the effect of rapid technological development is enhancing rather than disruptive.
Professional services remain a highly active sector, with consolidation of niche segments a key investor theme, demonstrated by two recent transactions MCF advised on: VIEW Group’s acquisition of interim and recruitment specialist Prodiem and Longship’s acquisition of IP specialist Bergenstråhle.
Get in touch with our Head of Business Services: Nils Petter Palmefors
CONSUMER
Consumer M&A activity slowed noticeably in the third quarter of 2026, with deal volumes down 21% compared with Q2 2026 and 23% compared with the same period last year. The decline follows a relatively active second quarter and reflects a market that remains open for transactions but increasingly selective, as buyers continue to scrutinise earnings resilience, growth visibility and valuation.
Manufacturing, retail trade, and accommodation & food services remained the three most active consumer subsectors, together accounting for 74% of announced deal volume during Q3, according to Mergermarket. The quarter also saw some rotation within consumer: activity in the more discretionary arts, entertainment & recreation segment cooled, while less cyclical areas such as wholesale trade gained relative share. This appears consistent with a broader preference among buyers for businesses offering resilient demand, defensible margins and greater visibility of future earnings.
The headline decline in transaction numbers also masks an increasingly polarised market. High-quality consumer assets continue to attract strong strategic and financial buyer interest, while businesses exposed to weaker discretionary demand, margin pressure or less differentiated propositions face greater scrutiny. As a result, strategic fit and a credible value-creation case are becoming increasingly important to getting transactions done, rather than buyers simply underwriting a wider improvement in the consumer environment.
Get in touch with our Head of Consumer: Andreas Kulcsar
INDUSTRIALS
The MCF Industrials team started Q3 with another landmark transaction: the sale of Fortaco’s steel fabrication and assembly operations in Finland, Estonia and Poland to HANZA, on which we advised.
The deal showcases our expertise in supporting corporate clients through strategic divestments and spin-offs, built on a deep understanding of each client’s business model, operations, value-add and competitive position, combined with a well-prepared market approach that continues to deliver consistently strong outcomes and high close rates across our processes.
In our Q2 statement, we noted that most of our clients were coping surprisingly well with the global macro situation. This has continued into Q3, though with a caveat: the coming months will need to show whether strong Q1-Q3 results were partly boosted by stocking effects in the supply chain following the Iran/Strait of Hormuz crisis, rather than reflecting underlying demand alone.
With a strong order book across private equity, corporate and entrepreneur clients, we look forward to a strong year-end rally.
Get in touch with our Head of Industrials: Sven Harmsen
TECHNOLOGY
European tech M&A is running on two tracks, and our latest Q3 deals show both. First, private equity buyers are coming back, but remain highly selective and are paying for quality. DRS Investment’s sale of evasys to VIA equity rewarded a business that had already become a profitable, growing SaaS company and completed its management succession. VIA’s plan is to add AI-driven analytics and expand internationally. That is what sponsors are backing today: de-risked, cash-generative platforms with a credible AI story.
Second, large corporates are buying software to add capabilities and reach new regions. Legrand’s acquisition of Axel Health gives its Legrand Care division a Nordic patient-flow platform, following its earlier deals for Enovation and Performation.
The takeaway for our clients is that profitable vertical software leaders with high retention draw competition from both private equity and corporate buyers. Beyond software, we are seeing strong demand for assets with sticky, recurring revenue, such as hardware installation or multi-year enterprise contracts. Thorough preparation combined with a truly international process targeting highly relevant strategics continues to make the difference.
Get in touch with our Head of Technology: Rita Lei
