Market Analysis: Strongest 1st four-month period for SF transactions

Now that the first four months of the year have concluded, we believe it is a good time to review the first SF acquisitions completed at the beginning of 2026. As always, these figures are preliminary — we know that we may have missed some transactions (particularly in the United States), and we also expect to include several currently undisclosed deals in the coming months due to confidentiality constraints.

At the same point last year, we had recorded only 20 completed deals. This year, we are likely to surpass 30 transactions (28 are listed below, but as mentioned, we expect to identify additional deals that may have been missed). This clearly demonstrates the growing level of activity in the SF landscape and suggests another very promising outlook for 2026. We should comfortably exceed 100 completed deals this year, setting a new all-time record.

Countries

Although we may still be missing a few American transactions, Europe has undoubtedly taken the lead, accounting for 17 new transactions recorded during this first four-month period. Once again, the region’s activity was driven primarily by Spain, which saw 8 acquisitions — nearly one-third of all transactions completed worldwide during this period. Combined with additional deals in the UK, the Netherlands, France, Italy, and Denmark, Europe represents more than 60% of all transactions completed to date.

The United States recorded 5 acquisitions, Latin America 4, and APAC 2.

Exits

The good news is that exits continue to take place globally, even if fewer were recorded compared to last year, while still maintaining strong performance trends. Notably, the Tethys exit in France is an excellent example of a SF acquisition that successfully leveraged three key value drivers, making it one of the strongest exits in the SF ecosystem worldwide. In addition, MotionVFX was sold to Apple, marking the third SF exit in Poland over the past 12 months, while another successful exit was completed in Brazil, also generating an excellent return.

Sectors

During the first four months of the year, SF activity was particularly strong across the industrial, technology, healthcare, and business services sectors. Industrial and manufacturing-related businesses accounted for a significant share of transactions, including companies specializing in precision machining, electrical components, surface treatment services, fire protection, dry utilities construction, and tyre and wheel manufacturing.

Technology-driven companies also attracted strong investor interest, particularly those focused on operational management software, identity verification and biometrics, security and video surveillance systems, and marketing platforms for real estate investors.

Healthcare and specialized services remained highly active, with acquisitions involving telediagnosis services, medical aesthetics groups, gastroenterology practices, and animal health and nutrition manufacturers.

In addition, the consumer and commercial services sectors saw notable activity, including automotive repair chains, logistics operators, catering services, legal services firms, and premium niche manufacturing businesses.

Search Funds

Across our media platform, we have already covered more than 40 traditional SFs raised during the first months of 2026. Italy has been the most active market, with 8 new SFs launched, followed by Spain, the UK, the United States, Portugal, Brazil, Germany, India, France, the Netherlands, and others.

Activity continues to accelerate, and when considering the success of ETA events worldwide, each attracting between 100 and 600 participants, it is clear that interest in the ETA path is continuing to grow rapidly. In some markets, however, increasing competition may eventually lead to saturation.

Below is the full list of acquisitions completed during the first four months of 2026: