PORTUGAL Trends and Developments Contributed by: Martim Morgado and Joana Geada dos Santos, CS’Associados
The Portuguese M&A market in 2025 was marked by a period of adjustment and strategic reposition - ing rather than expansion. After initial expectations of recovery following the slowdown observed in 2024, deal activity throughout 2025 remained below market projections. While this deceleration was not unique to Portugal and reflected broader European and global uncertainties, it clearly affected the local market, with fewer deals, more cautious investors and selective deal-making. At the same time, signs of stabilisation in the second half of the year and a strong pipeline for 2026 suggest that the Portuguese M&A market is entering a phase of strategic repositioning rather than decline. Portugal continues to stand out as an attractive jurisdiction for international investors, supported by political stability, EU integration, a favourable business environment and the availability of high-quality assets across several key sectors. These factors ensured that cross-border investment and private capital remained central to the Portuguese M&A market throughout the past year. M&A Activity in 2025 According to information reported by TTR Data, 2025 showed stable activity with strong growth in aggre - gate value, indicating fewer but larger transactions. The total transaction value in 2025 stood at EUR17.56 billion, marking a 28.15% increase compared to 2024, although with a 0.4% decrease in the total number of deals, recording 655 completed deals. The third quarter was the standout quarter, with approximately EUR9.60 billion of the total value of transactions, driven by a few very large cross-border transactions. Most of the value came from inbound cross-border deals, accounting for EUR10.5 billion of the total value, corresponding to 59.86% of the deal activity by value. One of the supersized deals was the acquisition of Novo Banco, Portugal’s fourth-largest bank, by BPCE, for EUR6.4 billion (this is still ongoing and is expected to be completed in April 2026). According to Merger - market, the Novo Banco–BPCE deal is the biggest deal for Portugal on Mergermarket record in the last
ten years in terms of equity valuations (the next high - est deal was the acquisition of Portugal Telecom by French telco Altice, in November 2014, with an equity value of EUR5.4 billion). Private equity remained a key driver of M&A activity in Portugal throughout 2025, accounting for EUR8.56 billion in deal value, corresponding to a 123.25% increase compared to 2024. From a sectorial perspective, real estate led with 105 transactions, while internet, software and IT services had 79 deals. Spain and France led in investments in Portugal with 59 and 35 deals respectively, while Portuguese com - panies mainly invested in Spain (47) and the United States (21). Sectors and Industries Real estate Real estate remained one of the most active sectors for M&A in Portugal in 2025, continuing a trend observed over the past four years, accounting for 16% of the total number of deals. Both domestic and international investors maintained strong interest in commercial, residential, logistics and hospitality assets, particularly in Lisbon, Porto and key tourist regions. At the end of 2025, the Portuguese government approved Law 73-B/2025 of 31 December, known as the “Major Options 2025–2029” ( Lei das Grandes Opções 2025-2029), which sets out four strategic pil - lars for the sector: • increasing supply through the mobilisation of pub - lic assets; • simplifying licensing and construction procedures; • creating new urban centralities; and • revising the urban lease regime. In parallel, the anticipated revision of the “Urban Simplex Initiative” ( Simplex Urbanístico ) framework (as per government proposal no 48/XVII/1), includ - ing amendments to the legal regime governing urban planning and construction, is expected to streamline licensing procedures and reduce administrative time - lines. Until the final approval of the new framework,
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