AUSTRIA Trends and Developments Contributed by: Markus Fellner, Paul Luiki and Peter Blaschke, Fellner Wratzfeld & Partner
Strategic investors Strategic investors continued to dominate Aus - tria’s M&A landscape in 2024, accounting for approximately 90% of all transactions, with a total of 220 deals. This trend highlights the ongo - ing focus on acquisitions driven by long-term business objectives, including market expan - sion, technological innovation and the pursuit of operational synergies. The strong presence of strategic buyers underlines their commitment to sustainable growth and value creation despite evolving market conditions. Financial investors, including private equity and venture capital, slightly increased their activity in 2024, with the number of deals rising from 15 to 25. Despite this growth, financial investors still accounted for only 10% of total transactions, reinforcing the dominance of strategic players in Austria’s M&A market. Strategic investors are expected to maintain their dominance in 2025, particularly in indus - tries undergoing digitalisation and sustainability transformations. If financing conditions improve, private equity investors may gain a stronger foothold and increase their share of transactions. Sector dominance in the last year In 2024, Austria’s industrial sector led the market in terms of transaction volume, with 83 deals. It was closely followed by the technology sector, which recorded 70 transactions. The real estate sector ranked third with 30 deals. In terms of transaction values, the telecommuni - cations, media and technology (TMT) sector led the Austrian M&A market in 2024, with a total of EUR1.5 billion. The industrial sector came in at a close second, with a transaction value of EUR1.3 billion. These figures highlight the ongoing sig -
nificance of both sectors in shaping Austria’s M&A landscape. The emphasis on the industrial and technology sectors aligns with global trends focusing on digital transformation and innovation. Compa - nies in these sectors actively pursue acquisitions to strengthen their technological capabilities and maintain competitiveness in a global market. In 2025, technology investments are expected to rise, with particular emphasis on artificial intelligence (AI) and digital infrastructure. Fur - thermore, the healthcare sector is poised for increased M&A activity, driven by Austria’s grow - ing prominence as a biotech and MedTech hub. The largest foreign players in the Austrian M&A market in 2024 were predominantly German investors, who accounted for 28% of all acquisi - tions. In addition, 45.8% of takeovers were car - ried out by investors from other European coun - tries, including France, Belgium and Sweden. As a result, a total of 73.8% of all foreign investors in Austria were based in Europe. On the flip side, 26.7% of outbound transactions were directed towards Germany, followed by 22.5% aimed at North America. This highlights Austria’s strong ties to its European neighbours and key inter - national markets. The one-year anniversary of the Flexible Capital Company As of 1 January 2024, Austria introduced a new corporate legal form: the Flexible Capital Com - pany (FlexCo). The newly created FlexCo offers significant improvements for entrepreneurs and start-ups by reducing bureaucratic hurdles and introducing tax incentives for employee partici - pation. In the first year since its introduction, more than 800 FlexCos have been established.
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