All players of the Belgian M&A market are requested to participate to this yearly survey. The main conclusions for the past year are:

  • An average of 6.5 times the EBITDA value (i.e. the operational cash flow) is paid across all acquisition segments. 

 

 

(EV = Enterprise Value)

  • The prediction for the near future are quite modest: only 40%  expects a future increase of deals, 38% thinks the amount of deals will stabilize and 22% even predicts a decrease.
  • Further growth is still expected in the segment of smaller companies with a value of less than 1 million €. Competition in the medium-sized transactions segment (between 5 and 50 million) is fierce, which means that many interested buyers move to the smaller deal segment, where there are more opportunities.
  • On average, 31% of the acquisition amount is financed with own equity..
  • For 1  in 3 acquisitions, the transferor is asked to grant a vendor loan, whereby part of the payment is deferred and spread over several years.
  • In 25% of the acquisitions, a part is financed by the transferor via an earn-out, with a part of the payment depending on the future performance of the acquired company.

 

Source : M&A Monitor