The European Buy & Build Opportunity Index 2026

Private equity entered 2026 with capital to deploy, but in a more disciplined market. Valuations have moderated, competition remains high, and buy & build remains central to many investment strategies.

Against that backdrop, CIL analyzed more than 2,500 business segments across the UK & Ireland, the Nordics, Benelux, Iberia, Germany, and France using our Buy & Build Opportunity Index. The objective was simple: to identify the sectors where fragmentation, relative scale, and market turnover point to the strongest consolidation potential.

What the Index shows

The Index highlights standout opportunities across a broad mix of service sectors, industrial niches, and asset-backed markets.

Dry powder remains near record highs, but dealmakers are operating in a more selective environment. In CIL’s 2025 Mid-Market M&A Pulse Check, buy & build remained the most widely cited value creation strategy for the third year running, but operational improvement and commercial effectiveness are now just as prominent in investor thinking.

Regional highlights

UK & Ireland

The opportunity lies in building stronger, more professionalized platforms in service markets where demand is recurring and regulation is increasing. Standout sectors include market research & polling, technical building services, and student accommodation.

Nordics

Digitally advanced, transparent markets are creating room for regional champions in fragmented categories. Recruitment agencies, gyms, and IT asset disposition stand out as sectors where platforms can benefit from scale, automation, and cross-border expansion.

Benelux

High-demand, labor-intensive sectors such as nurseries, specialist cleaning, and camping grounds remain fragmented despite mounting cost and compliance pressure. That creates strong conditions for consolidation and professionalization.

Iberia

Tourism, education, and manufacturing continue to create attractive platform-building opportunities. Camping grounds, student accommodation, and kitchen furniture manufacturing all show a combination of growth, fragmentation, and room for operational improvement.

Germany

A changing Mittelstand and growing openness to external capital are supporting buy & build opportunities in specialist markets. Technical ceramics, camping grounds, and specialist cleaning all stand out.

France

Reindustrialization, tighter regulation, and digitalization are driving demand across essential service categories. Maintenance of industrial machinery, technical testing & analysis, and specialist cleaning emerge as attractive sectors for consolidation.

Capturing value beyond acquisition

The report also makes a broader point about what separates good buy & build strategies from great ones. Acquisitions can create scale quickly, but the best platforms do more than roll up assets. They improve margins, strengthen the customer proposition, and create a more sustainable platform for organic growth.

That means being disciplined about integration, clear-eyed about where cross-sell is genuinely valuable, and rigorous in how performance is tracked. In crowded buy & build markets, data visibility and proof of value creation matter. Investors that can demonstrate retention, productivity gains, and post-integration performance will tell a stronger story at exit.

Why this matters now

Europe remains an attractive environment for buy & build, but the bar is rising. Investors face more choice, more pressure to deploy well, and more scrutiny around where value will come from after the deal.

The European Buy & Build Opportunity Index 2026 is designed to help investors focus that search. It identifies where the structural conditions for consolidation are strongest and where a well-executed platform strategy could create lasting advantage.

Download the report

Want to discuss the findings or explore opportunities in a specific market? Get in touch with our team to dig into the research.