EV/EBITDA — Q1 2026
EV/EBITDA — Q1 2026
deal volume YoY — Q1 2026
FY 2025 (Deloitte)
The PE premium is back — at a record 2.2× over strategic buyers.
After a difficult 2025 in which mid-market multiples fell from 9.5× to 8.3×, PE funds returned aggressively in Q1 2026. Their median bid reached 10.0× — the widest PE/strategic gap in Argos Index history.
Interpretation for sellers: process and buyer competition are worth more than ever. A well-run dual-track process — PE vs strategic simultaneously — is the most reliable way to capture the PE premium without sacrificing certainty.
Sources: Argos Index Q4 2025 (published Q1 2026) — exact. Q1–Q3 2025 — approximate, interpolated from Argos quarterly releases. Covers Eurozone mid-market (€15–500M EV). Argos Q2 2026 expected late Sept 2026.
EV/EBITDA ranges by sector — France & Switzerland, 2026.
Sector is a starting point, not a destination. Within any range, quality factors — recurring revenue, management depth, customer concentration — can add or remove 1.5–3.0 turns of EBITDA.
Unlisted SME adjustment: apply a 20–35% illiquidity discount (DLOM) to listed-company comparables. The ranges shown reflect mid-market unlisted company transactions.
What moves a multiple within a range
Recurring/contracted revenue · EBITDA margin above 15% · Audited accounts · No customer above 30% of revenue · Documented processes · Management team independent of founder
Source: Hectelion — Valuation Multiples by Sector: France / Switzerland, April 2026. Cross-referenced against Argos Index, Damodaran NYU Jan 2026, Dealsuite / Linkapital. Bars show midpoint of range; error bars show low–high range.
Record inbound acquisition activity. SNB at 0% amplifies buyer appetite.
Foreign buyers acquired Swiss targets at +65% higher volume in 2025 — a structural trend extending into H1 2026. Swiss precision engineering and B2B technology businesses command a 1–2× multiple premium over comparable European peers, driven by brand, engineering depth, and Swiss origin.
SNB rate at 0% (held June 2026) means acquisition financing is materially cheaper in CHF than EUR — a structural advantage for leveraged buyers targeting Swiss assets.
Sources: KPMG Clarity on M&A 2025 (Jan 2026) — total deals & volume exact. Deloitte M&A Activity of Swiss SME Report 2026 — SME & PE deals exact. Scalemetrics Swiss SME Valuations H1 2026 — multiples (triangulated).
FY 2025 — +8.2% YoY
(foreign buyers, Swiss target) FY 2025
FY 2025 (Deloitte)
& IT services (H1 2026)
manufacturing (H1 2026)
June 2026 — acquisition financing support
Direct lenders hold pricing as banks tighten.
The BSL-to-direct-lending spread widened by 80bps in Q1 2026 — the fastest spread movement in two years. Sponsors in the €10M–€100M range are increasingly using direct lending (€8.3bn across 35 transactions in Q1 2026), where pricing held while bank markets tightened.
March 2026
Q1 2026 (35 deals)
(Bain Global PE Report 2026)
Source: Carlsquare Debt Advisory — European Debt Markets Quarterly Insights Q1 2026, published 16 April 2026. ECB rate: confirmed from public ECB March 2026 meeting.
The €10M–€100M EV range: a sellers' market for prepared businesses.
Q1 2026 marks the return of financial sponsors — their median bid jumped to 10.0×, creating a record gap of 2.2× over strategic acquirers. For a seller in the €10M–€100M range, this means one concrete thing: a well-run competitive process — PE and strategic simultaneously — is the most reliable way to capture the PE premium without sacrificing deal certainty.
In Switzerland, the dynamic is different but convergent. Inbound acquirers (+65% in 2025) are targeting technology platforms and industrial businesses. The SNB at 0% makes acquisition financing materially cheaper — well-capitalised buyers, accessible credit, upward pressure on multiples.
The fracture that persists: poorly prepared assets leave below 7× (22% of Q1 2026 transactions). Preparation and buyer competition are the only two levers that reliably move the outcome in a seller's favour.
— Value Bridge Partners, August 2026. This is editorial commentary, not investment advice. All data sourced and cited in the Sources section below.
All data cited and attributed.
- Argos Index Q1 2026 — Argos Wityu / Epsilon Research, published 20 May 2026. EV/EBITDA multiples (all buyers, PE, strategic), deal volume, buyer split. Exact data. argos.fund
- KPMG Clarity on M&A — Swiss Market 2025 — Press release 14 January 2026. Total Swiss transactions (502), total volume (USD 166.8bn), PE deals (142). Exact data. kpmg.com/ch
- Deloitte M&A Activity of Swiss SME Report 2026 — Swiss SME transactions (208), PE deals (116), PE share (56%), inbound growth (+65%). Exact data. deloitte.com/ch
- Scalemetrics — Swiss SME Valuations H1 2026 — Published 16 July 2026. Swiss sector EV/EBITDA ranges (IT/SaaS 7–12×, precision manufacturing 5–8×, professional services 4–7×). Triangulated practitioner data. scalemetrics.ai
- Hectelion — Valuation Multiples by Sector: France / Switzerland 2026 — Published April 2026. Sector ranges cross-referenced vs Argos Index, Damodaran NYU Jan 2026, Dealsuite / Linkapital. hectelion.com
- PwC Switzerland — M&A Trends 2026 Mid-Year Outlook — Published 30 June 2026. Global M&A trajectory, SNB rate context, Swiss sector dynamics. pwc.ch
- Carlsquare Debt Advisory — European Debt Markets Q1 2026 — Published 16 April 2026. Direct lending volume (€8.3bn / 35 deals), ECB rate (2.0%), BSL vs direct lending spread dynamics. Exact data. carlsquare.com
- 0100 Conferences / The Corner — Q2 2026 European M&A Data — Q2 2026 announced European deal value (€262.5bn, 3,315 transactions). Approximate aggregate. thecorner.eu
- CMS — European M&A Outlook 2026 — Sentiment survey data (69% advisors optimistic H1 2026, 85% planning M&A). cms.law
- Bain & Company — Global Private Equity Report 2026 — Global PE dry powder (~$1.3 trillion).
Disclaimer: This barometer is produced for informational purposes only and does not constitute investment, financial, legal or M&A advisory. Data accuracy is subject to the publications cited. Value Bridge Partners does not independently verify third-party data. Past transaction multiples are not indicative of future results. © 2026 Value Bridge Partners. All rights reserved.