Content
- The Argos Index® continued to rise, to 11.3x EBITDA.
- Investment funds paid significantly higher multiples
- Share of transactions at multiples >15x EBITDA remained high, at around 16%
- Listed companies remained active in the mid-market, buoyed by the steady rise in equity markets
- Mid-market M&A activity increased in value but not in volume
- Benelux was the most active eurozone region this quarter in terms of SME acquisitions, surpassing Germany
Main conclusions
- The Argos Index® continued to rise, to 11.3x EBITDA
- The index was driven by investment funds, which paid significantly higher multiples
- Nearly 16% of transactions closed at multiples in excess of 15x EBITDA
- Listed companies remained active in the mid-market, encouraged by the steady rise in equity markets
- Mid-market M&A activity increased in value but not in volume
- Benelux was the most active eurozone region this quarter in terms of SME acquisitions, surpassing Germany
Median EV/EBITDA multiple on a six-month rolling basis
Source: Mid-market Argos Index® / Epsilon Research
All on the Argos Index ®
MANAGING PARTNER
Louis Godron
“The Argos Index® was born out of the desire to create a database for the unlisted market that would be both methodologically robust and rich in high-quality information. Robustness is the index’s salient characteristic.”
MANAGING PARTNER
Frank Hermann
“When the CEO of a company wonders if now is the right time to sell, the Argos Index® supplies essential business cycle information and helps him or her make a decision. The Argos Index® derives its legitimacy from its longevity and independence.”
FOUNDER, EPSILON RESEARCH
Grégoire Buisson
“If the Argos Index® is now a benchmark in Europe, it’s because we use information from our EMAT (Epsilon Multiple Analysis Tool) database that has been proven to be reliable. The index has always been based on this methodology. We work meticulously, transaction by transaction, examining documents, analyzing annual reports, reconstituting transactions and building hypotheses.”