If it feels like Swiss logos are changing hands more often this year, you're not imagining it. From January through August, deal value in Switzerland rose by roughly a fifth to $44 billion, a level that BCG says nudged just above the eight-year average and signaled a comeback for local M&A.
Of the worldwide M&A pool totaling $2.1 trillion, Swiss acquirers represented 1.6%. Worldwide activity is running the hottest since the pandemic-era binge, with strong earnings helping companies look past geopolitical tensions and high energy costs.
Highlights included Zurich Insurance Group AG agreeing to acquire specialist insurer Beazley for $10.9 billion. ABB Ltd. also struck a $5.6 billion deal to purchase Rotork Plc, another British firm. Private equity put up about $8 billion during the span, the second-lowest figure in eight years.
Speaking in Zurich, BCG's Jeremy Merz, who serves as a partner and managing director, said, "Big corporates having high amounts of cash on balance sheet and being more eager to acquire at the moment, as well as some sponsors being under pressure to sell before they raise and buy more." "Those two factors combined result in a lower sponsor share." He added, "It's a fairly Swiss-specific effect," and that "in other countries we actually see still quite high shares of sponsor led deals."
That shows up in the deal roster. On the sponsor side, standout activity included CVC's $2.6 billion acquisition of DSM-Firmenich's animal nutrition and health unit, along with an agreement by Lone Star to purchase a portion of chemicals giant Lonza. Even buyout veterans say Switzerland is a tough arena to close transactions right now.
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In a separate interview in Zurich, KKR & Co.'s Co-CEO Scott Nuttall said, "Strategics are back," and observed that companies currently enjoy greater liquidity and reduced capital costs. "Oftentimes if we're bidding head to head with a strategic that's highly motivated, they're probably going to win," he said. But "it could just be a moment in time kind of thing." KKR remains on pace this year for record levels of deployment, distributions and fundraising.
With exits harder and returns under strain, funds are tapping every tool in the kit to return cash to investors, from dividend recapitalizations that add new leverage, to net-asset-value loans backed by groups of portfolio companies, to moving holdings into continuation funds.
In Switzerland, companies with strong balance sheets are setting the pace, while sponsors are playing more defense. If you track Swiss names or funds, watching whether a corporate buyer or a sponsor is in the mix can hint at pricing power, timelines and how outcomes might land for shareholders.
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