M&A in the IT Services Sector: Market Dynamics and Current Valuations

The IT services market remains one of the most active M&A sectors in Europe. Ongoing consolidation makes a company sale attractive for businesses of almost any size. Well-positioned companies can achieve valuations with clearly double-digit EBITDA multiples.

Digital transformation, cloud migration, cybersecurity and the operation of mission-critical software have become indispensable for companies. Combined with the persistent shortage of skilled professionals, this is driving strong growth in IT services and enabling well-positioned providers to achieve attractive margins. As a result, IT services companies have increasingly moved into the focus of both strategic buyers and financial investors in recent years. In this article, we take a look at the current transaction environment, analyze the deal patterns currently shaping the sector and examine how companies are valued.

Ongoing consolidation continues to drive a high number of transactions

Transaction activity in the IT services sector remains high, albeit slightly below the record years of 2021 and 2022. During that period, historically low interest rates led to large acquisition budgets among strategic buyers and significant investment pressure among financial investors, resulting in record transaction volumes across many industries. The consistently high level of company sales demonstrates the sustained attractiveness of the sector.

Figure 1: Deal count of IT services transactions in the DACH-region (Source: Pitchbook)

While the number of companies sold annually in both the DACH region and Europe has almost doubled over the past ten years, a significant shift in the buyer landscape can be observed. Financial investors are increasingly targeting the sector and now account for almost half of all transactions, up from around 20% in 2015.

Recurring revenues, high margins and stable market prospects make IT services companies ideal acquisition targets for private equity investors and family offices. At the same time, market fragmentation allows for the implementation of buy-and-build strategies. In these cases, financial investors initially acquire a platform company and subsequently expand it through add-on acquisitions. Larger groups typically achieve higher valuations at exit than smaller standalone companies. This creates a return leverage both for the financial investor and for sellers who typically reinvest. This consolidation trend is clearly reflected in the data: while add-on acquisitions by portfolio companies backed by financial investors accounted for less than 15% of transactions in 2015, they now represent more than one third of all deals.

Figure 2: Development of the European IT services transactions categorized by the number of employees per target company (Source: Pitchbook)

This development is also reflected in the average size of companies sold. The large number of buy-and-build platforms in the market has led to increasing demand for smaller acquisition targets. As a result, companies with fewer than 60 employees now account for the largest share of transactions.

High public market valuations underline the continued attractiveness of the sector in the age of AI

Company sales are generally announced publicly, while purchase prices are rarely disclosed. In contrast, the enterprise value of listed companies is continuously reassessed by the capital markets, making stock market valuations a useful indicator of valuation levels within a sector.

In the Quantum Partners IT Services Index, we analyze the ratio of reported EBITDA to the Enterprise Value (EBITDA multiple) of leading listed IT services groups as an indicator of valuation levels in the sector. The index is calculated on an unweighted basis to avoid distortions caused by individual companies.

Figure 3: Quantum Partners indices on EV/EBITDA (TTM) of selected public IT services companies, equally weighted (Source: Pitchbook)

Political and macroeconomic effects tend to be reflected more quickly and more strongly in stock market valuations, resulting in greater volatility. Accordingly, valuation levels have fluctuated significantly over the period under review. Over the long term, the global index shows a slight upward trend over the past ten years and currently stands at approximately 14x EV/EBITDA. The European index has been even more volatile, most recently trading below the global average but currently catching up. Both the European and global indices show a pronounced decline in 2022, driven primarily by the cooling of financial markets following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and rising interest rates.

At the latest with the release of ChatGPT in November 2022, the potential of artificial intelligence also moved into the focus of investors. Initial concerns that AI could replace traditional IT services or put pressure on margins have not materialized. Instead, AI is creating additional growth opportunities for many companies, for example through implementation projects and AI consulting, which is reflected in higher valuation levels.

Attractive IT services companies can achieve clearly double-digit EBITDA multiples

For small and mid-sized companies, these figures provide an initial point of reference. However, due to the significant size differences compared to listed corporations, the valuations are not directly transferable. Outside public markets, company valuations are significantly less transparent. Valuation events are limited to company sales, and in most transactions the purchase prices are not disclosed. In our analysis of average valuations of IT services companies, we therefore consider all European transactions in the segment with published purchase prices in order to obtain a sufficiently large data set for statistically meaningful conclusions.

Figure 4: Development of EBITDA multiples in European IT services transactions (Source: Pitchbook)

Over the past ten years, this results in an average EBITDA multiple for IT service companies of 8.9x. After record double-digit levels in the years 2019 to 2021, company valuations are currently below the long-term average. This is primarily due to the continued consolidation of the sector: In recent years, small companies with fewer than 60 employees achieved EBITDA multiples in Europe that were statistically almost 30% lower than those of larger companies. As these smaller companies now account for the majority of transactions, this reduces the average and disguises the fact that attractive companies with strong growth, a compelling market position and high margins continue to achieve clearly double-digit valuations. Accordingly, the top 25% of recent valuations are at an EBITDA multiple of approximately 15x.

Financial investors statistically pay higher purchase prices than strategic buyers

Figure 5: Transaction multiples by buyer type and target size based on 10-year average on EV/EBITDA multiples in European IT services transactions (Source: Pitchbook)

In addition to company performance and size, the type of buyer is a key driver of valuation levels. Based on our analysis over the past ten years, financial investors have paid purchase prices that are on average 16% higher than those paid by strategic buyers.

This may appear counter-intuitive, as strategic buyers in many industries are often able to pay higher prices by factoring in internal synergy potential. However, the high attractiveness of the sector for financial investors, combined with the large number of buy-and-build platforms whose success depends primarily on bolt-on acquisitions, results in significant investment pressure and intense competition among buyers. Financial investors respond to this environment with aggressive valuations, while for strategic buyers, organic growth often becomes more attractive beyond a certain valuation level.

A broad M&A process can significantly increase the company valuation

In practice, this often results in substantial valuation differences. In general, we recommend to our clients approaching a broad range of strategic buyers, financial investors and buy-and-build platforms in order to generate as many offers as possible.

While most offers provide for market-standard seller reinvestment quotas between 10% and 30%, valuation expectations often differ significantly. The best offer can easily be more than twice as high as the lowest one. Key drivers include differences in sector understanding, expected synergies and underlying growth assumptions. However, an additional and critical factor is the competitive pressure deliberately created through a broad buyer approach. This competition makes it possible to further optimize the offers from the most solvent bidders and thus significantly increase the valuation.

Naturally, this cannot always be applied without restriction. Each company is unique, and an attractive purchase price is not the sole parameter of a successful transaction. Nevertheless, the current market environment, characterized by high demand, offers very favorable conditions for company sales. Based on professional transaction documentation – particularly an integrated financial plan, a compelling information memorandum and a well-structured virtual data room – a proactively managed M&A process provides sellers not only with significant potential for valuation optimization, but also with additional flexibility in contract negotiations.

FAQ: M&A in the IT Services Sector

What is the current M&A environment in the IT services market in Europe and the DACH region?
The IT services market remains one of the most active M&A sectors in Europe. While deal activity is slightly below the record years of 2021/2022, it is still at a high level—driven by digital transformation, cloud migration, cybersecurity, and the operation of mission-critical software. For IT services companies, the current environment can therefore still offer attractive conditions for a potential sale.

Why are private equity investors and family offices acquiring so many IT services companies?
IT services companies are particularly attractive to financial investors because they often combine recurring revenues, strong margins, and resilient growth prospects. In addition, the market is highly fragmented—ideal for buy-and-build strategies, where a platform is scaled through targeted add-on acquisitions. Larger groups typically achieve higher valuations at exit, further strengthening the investment case.

Which factors determine the valuation of an IT services company?
Valuation is typically driven by several factors: revenue and EBITDA growth, margin profile, share of recurring revenue, positioning (e.g., cloud, cybersecurity, managed services), customer structure, as well as scalability and overall size. Buyer type also matters: financial investors often pay higher prices on average than strategic buyers—especially in competitive sale processes.

What EBITDA multiples are realistic for IT services companies?
As a benchmark, European transactions show long-term average EBITDA multiples in the high single-digit range. At the same time, highly attractive IT services companies—such as those with strong growth, clear specialization, high profitability, and sufficient scale—can still achieve clearly double-digit EBITDA multiples. Ultimately, outcomes depend on market positioning and the level of buyer competition in the process.

How can an M&A process increase the valuation of an IT services provider?
A broadly run M&A process increases the likelihood of receiving multiple competitive offers—from strategic buyers, private equity, family offices, and buy-and-build platforms. The resulting bidder competition can significantly improve valuation and also increase negotiating leverage on key deal terms. High-quality materials such as an integrated financial model, a strong information memorandum, and a well-structured virtual data room are key levers for a successful transaction.