New dynamics in M&A in Europe

Contribution from Geert Kruiter, VP Continental Europe Document Boss

Until approximately 12 months ago, we were primarily seeing mid to large enterprises actively targeting companies worth €20M and above. This activity has already triggered some consolidation among the large technology vendors in the eCM and BPM sector. However, for the past six months we have noticed strong demand from small companies, not only interested in selling, but also in buying similar sized companies. Motivation for such transactions largely centers around three key aspects:

• A fast and potentially attractive way to expand into new regions  
• To extend their existing portfolio of products     
• To increase the size of their existing operation

Despite the current global credit crisis, these relatively small companies are managing to generate adequate acquisition funding. With quite a number of attractive acquisitions available in Europe, merging or acquiring is a current viable strategy for companies to achieve fast growth.