M&A trends from BCMS Switzerland, part of BCMS, global sell-side advisor founded in 1989 with 26 offices worldwide. Authored by Aymeric d'Anselme, Associate Strategy Director, BCMS Switzerland

1. BCMS Switzerland
2015
REVIEW
M&A TRENDS
This report is based on BCMS Switzerland activities in 2015 only. Therefore the described trends
are only indicative.

2. 2015 ANNUAL REVIEW
Simon Gregory
Managing Director
BCMS Switzerland
“We have seen a notable
increase in the level of
interest by international
buyers to acquire Swiss
companies”
In our 2015 annual review BCMS
Switzerland has demonstrated for the
local market what we already knew
from our 26 global offices, that
international research for potential
buyers is relevant for companies of all
sizes. Even our smallest deals
(companies with a turnover of around
10 million CHF) are of interest to
international buyers as long as these
buyers are given the opportunity to
become informed about the acquisition
opportunity.
The international market in the search
for acquirers is often overlooked by
local M&A firms with this level of
turnover. However our access to the
details of over 150 million companies
worldwide and our comprehensive
research capabilities that enables us
to identify both local and International
buyers for companies of all shapes
and sizes demonstrates that sellers
must look beyond the local market.
International buyers are interested in
big deals, however they also show
significant interest in smaller
companies when given the
opportunity to bid for the sellers
company.

3. EUROPE : MAIN INVESTORS IN SWISS SMBs
EUROPE REMAINS THE MAIN POOL OF INTERESTED PARTIES FOR SWISS
COMPANIES

4. SPLIT OF THE INTEREST SMBs
3 Mio - 10 Mio COMPANIES
geographic split of interest
“One of our smallest clients secured over
50 ‘Confidentiality Agreements’ from
interested parties that were 95% head
quartered outside of the local economy,
including interest from the US, China,
South East Asia as well as across
Europe”
Véronique Pollacsek
Head of Operations
BCMS Switzerland
International Interested
Parties

5. AMERICA: TECH, GEOGRAPHY & SIZE
AMERICA CONFIRMS ITS DYNAMISM AND INTEREST FOR SWISS 10-200 Mio COMPANIES
AND HIGH TECH PRODUCTS AND SERVICES:
Interested Parties split
10 Mio - 200 Mio Swiss Companies
More and more, buyers are interested in
technologies, geographies, diversification, and
access to markets with high entry costs, instead
of focusing on pure size criteria.
One of our local clients gives access to the buyer to over 30
other countries and the buyer has opted to pay a premium
given that we had over 30 interested parties, based upon
what they could achieve strategically with this acquisition.

6. 2015: ATTRACTIVE SWISS MARKET
SWISS COMPANIES ARE OF HIGH INTEREST :
BCMS Corporate identifies an average of 200 relevant potential buyers for every
company. The average level of interest has increased to 19,7% (average of 15% in
2014) of them signing an NDA
With 93 deals completed worldwide in
2015, BCMS Corporate recorded one of the
most successfull years of its 27 years history

7. 2015: ATTRACTIVE SWISS MARKET
“MADE IN SWITZERLAND” REMAINS A VERY ATTRACTIVE BRAND STATEMENT FOR
FOREIGN COMPANIES:
89,6% of the companies interested by our Swiss clients were headquartered abroad. Only
10,4% of the NDAs collected were from Swiss companies despite fully exploring the national
market
Our smallest client with 4 million in annual
sales, currently has interest from companies
based in Japan, US, and Germany because of
their access to certain technologies. The
potential buyers of this company range in size
from 12 bn to 60bn.

8. AVERAGE 2015 FIGURES PER COMPANY

9. BCMS GLOBAL SELL-SIDE ADVISOR LEADER
In 2015 BCMS outperformed market in record year
for company sales.
Deal activity was particularly intense at the SME
end of the market, pointing to a 26% increase in
BCMS own deal volume.
For the second consecutive year in 2015 BCMS was
ranked first globally in number of deals completed
by Zephyr – Bureau dan Dijk database

10. We thank our worldwide
clients for their trust
Registered Office in Switzerland: BCMS Switzerland registered as Xilan SA, Avenue de la Harpe 49, Ouchy, 1007 Lausanne, Switzerland
www.bcmscorporate.ch
International Headquarters : BCMS Corporate Ltd, Plantagenet House, Kingsclere Park, Newbury, Berkshire, RG20 4SW, United Kingdom
www.bcms.co.uk
Contact: info@bcms.ch
Call: +41 21 588 0291
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