Switzerland’s M&A deal surge leaves the rest of Europe behind

By Pune Media On Aug 18, 2025

(Bloomberg) — Switzerland is seeing a more than fivefold surge in mergers and acquisitions that’s outpaced most of its European peers, giving bankers hopes for a lucrative payout this year.

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The volume of takeovers targeting Swiss companies has jumped 465% to $16.7 billion so far this year, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Private equity firms are particularly active, with Advent announcing late Sunday it has agreed to acquire Zurich-listed chipmaker U-blox Holding AG in a deal valued at 1.05 billion Swiss francs ($1.3 billion).

Switzerland’s wave of dealmaking comes against a backdrop of macroeconomic challenges. Swiss companies are now facing a potential hit to revenues after the US unexpectedly imposed a 39% tariff on imports from the country. The levy is the highest in the developed world and prompted various Swiss companies from small to large to look at ways to lower the impact.

The country’s openness to foreign investment has helped drive inbound deal volume, as it doesn’t have the restrictions that some other European nations have, according to Tino Gaberthüel, who heads the corporate and M&A practice at Zurich-based law firm Lenz & Staehelin.

In April, Helvetia Holding AG agreed to combine with Baloise Holding AG to form Switzerland’s second-largest insurance group

“There is a high interest in Switzerland’s mid-cap players that run cost efficiently, but may not have a globally critical size,” said Vincent Thiebaud, head of Swiss investment banking at Jefferies Financial Group Inc.

Swiss firms themselves are also on the lookout for new technologies and for entering new markets or cementing their footprint in existing ones, said Reinout Boettcher, JPMorgan Chase & Co.’s head of Switzerland investment banking.

“The Swiss M&A market has historically been strongly influenced by outbound activities, also because Switzerland has a large number of leading global companies that want to strengthen their positions,” Boettcher said.

Mergers of domestic companies, on the back of a strong Swiss franc and the needs to boost returns, are also driving Swiss dealmaking. In April, Helvetia Holding AG agreed to combine with Baloise Holding AG to form the country’s second-largest insurance group, marking the biggest announced deal in Switzerland this year. OC Oerlikon Corp. in May signed a deal to sell its Barmag textile machinery business to domestic rival Rieter Holding AG.

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Some Swiss companies are under pressure to simplify their operations to revive growth and boost profit margins. ABB Ltd., which has a $122 billion market value, is looking to spin off or sell its robotics unit, while Nestle SA has announced plans to separate a water business that’s home to brands like Perrier, S.Pellegrino and Acqua Panna.

“We see positive activity in Switzerland including in the large-cap segment,” said Jens Haas, head of investment bank Switzerland at UBS Group AG. “It is largely focused on transactions with a perceived high certainty of success, like breaking up conglomerate structures via spinoffs or divestitures.”

Deutsche Bank AG expects the industrial, health care and financial services sector to remain hotspots for further deal activity in the second half of the year.

“We have naturally become an increasingly important address for many European topics for our clients,” said Urs Raeber, head of investment banking coverage and advisory at Deutsche Bank in Switzerland.