SWITZERLAND Law and Practice Contributed by: Christoph Neeracher, Philippe Seiler and Lukas Bründler, Bär & Karrer Ltd
Bär & Karrer Ltd Brandschenkestrasse 90 8002 Zurich Switzerland Tel: +41 58 261 50 00 Email: zurich@baerkarrer.ch Web: www.baerkarrer.ch
1. Transaction Activity 1.1 Private Equity Transactions and M&A Deals in General After a sharp downturn in 2023, both by deal count and by deal value, the Swiss M&A market showed signs of resilience and recovery in 2024, with total deal value increasing to USD115.1 billion (464 deals) from USD72.2 billion (484 deals) in the previous year. Compared to deal activity and volume over the past ten years, 2024 was an average year overall, with both deal count and deal value revolving closely around the respective ten-year average numbers. Top deals included the IPOs by Galderma and Sunrise and the USD8.6 billion acquisition of Vodafone Italia by Swiss - com. Global M&A activity in the first half of 2025 remained fairly robust, despite falling short of the strong rebound that many had anticipated. Lingering market volatility and uncertainty, caused among other things by geo - political conflicts and the aggressive trade strategy and erratic approach to tariffs by the Trump adminis - tration, tempered overall dealmaking. The Swiss State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO) forecasts modest economic growth of 1.3% for Switzerland in 2025, with the IMF’s global forecast set at 2.8%, both below historical averages. Notwithstanding these challenges, there is optimism for the Swiss M&A market in 2025, not least because, amid increased turmoil on a global level, Switzerland continues to offer a stable legal, regulatory and politi - cal environment, as well as a comparatively attractive interest rate environment, with the policy rate having
been cut to 0% in June 2025 by the Swiss Nation - al Bank. Furthermore, although private equity firms are relying more heavily on continuation funds and secondary transactions to generate liquidity, a still- growing backlog is creating increased exit pressure for private equity firms, which sets the stage for a potential catch-up effect in the second half of 2025. 1.2 Market Activity and Impact of Macro- Economic Factors In 2024, the most active sectors in the Swiss M&A market were industrial markets; technology, media and telecommunications (TMT); and pharmaceuti - cals and life sciences. The industrial goods sector accounted for 84 transactions with a deal volume of approximately USD24.4 billion, representing 18% of all transactions (by deal count). For a second year in a row, the industrial goods sector surpassed the TMT sector as the most active in M&A. The TMT sector saw a total of 75 transactions with total deal volume surging to USD25.8 billion, an unprece - dented ten-year high driven by the IPO of Sunrise and the acquisition of Vodafone Italy by Swisscom. Phar - maceuticals and life sciences maintained their third- place position (by deal count) from the previous year, with 59 deals but a volume of nearly USD41 billion. Looking ahead, several macro-economic factors could restore confidence and boost M&A activity. Despite the uncertain timing, the need for M&A is more pronounced, driven by increased selling pres - sure, particularly from private equity firms. Rapid tech - nological advancements and the disruptive impact of artificial intelligence (AI) make M&A a strategic impera -
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