Swiss M&A market in 2025: solid M&A year in a challenging economic environment

• Featuring 502 M&A transactions and a deal volume of around USD 166.8 billion (2024: 464 transactions, USD 115.1 billion), the 2025 M&A year outperformed the previous year but still fell slightly short of market players’ expectations.

• Most transactions occurred in the Telecommunications, Media and Technology (TMT) sectors. Pharmaceuticals & Life Sciences reported the highest transaction volume at roughly USD 53.0 billion.

• The largest transaction was the spin-off of Amrize Ltd. by Holcim Ltd. for USD 33.7 billion.

• AI, cyber resilience and company-wide readiness will increasingly determine the success of M&A transactions in the future.

With 74 transactions and a total volume of USD 53.0 billion, Pharmaceuticals & Life Sciences proved to be the clear volume driver, significantly exceeding the previous year (2024: 59 deals; USD 40.7 billion). While TMT was the most active sector with 84 deals, its transaction volume declined considerably to USD 9.8 billion; this is mainly attributable to the lack of any mega transactions in the telco subsector.

The Industrial Markets sector fell from first to third place in 2025 and reported 72 deals with a transaction volume of USD 8.8 billion (2024: 84 deals; USD 24.4 billion). With 142 transactions and a volume of USD 46.2 billion, the Private Equity sector once again demonstrated stable momentum. Accounting for 28 percent of Swiss M&A transactions, it continues to play a key role in the Swiss M&A market.

The year’s five largest M&A deals accounted for roughly USD 69.7 billion or nearly 40 percent of the total transaction volume in 2025. The largest transaction of the year was the spin-off of Amrize Ltd., once the North American business of Holcim Ltd., with a volume of USD 33.7 billion.

The purchase of Avidity Biosciences Inc. by Novartis AG for USD 12.0 billion took second place, while the merger between Baloise Holding Ltd. and Helvetia Holding AG in a transaction valued at USD 10.8 billion came in third. 

Swiss companies continued to be active players on the international market in 2025 as well: They acquired foreign companies or shareholdings in 225 cases, or nearly half of all transactions. “Thanks to high liquidity and robust balance sheets, Swiss companies are extremely well positioned to act as international buyers,” explains Timo Knak. Foreign buyers acquired merely 133 Swiss companies or shareholdings in the same period, which roughly corresponds to a quarter of all deals.

At 49 deals, purely domestic transactions only played a minor role. What is more, 95 transactions or around 19 percent of the deals featured Swiss companies acting as sellers with target and bidder party being of foreign influence.

KPMG expects M&A activity to increase slightly in 2026. Technological factors will probably continue to shape the M&A landscape at the same time, with digitalization projects in the TMT sector in particular having a major impact on deal activity. “Assessing a company’s AI and cyber resilience and readiness will become a crucial success factor for every transaction in 2026 and these considerations will have to be incorporated into M&A planning at an early stage,” explains Timo Knak. “In addition, ongoing geopolitical uncertainties will prompt players to pay closer attention to a target company’s sustainable and foreseeable growth and profitability prospects.”