A weak cycle has not
stopped the buyers.
Industrial automation, machinery and precision manufacturing in Germany, Austria and Switzerland: where the market stands, who is buying, what has changed hands and what separates one valuation from another.
EDITION 01 · 2026 · © NEVON GMBHThe downturn has sorted this market rather than stopped it.
German machinery output is heading into a fourth year without growth. The industry association expects a further real decline of 2 percent in 2026 and a return to growth of 3 percent only in 2027.1 Precision and contract manufacturing has fallen further. In 2025 German output of fabricated metal products was 13 percent below its 2021 level, foundries 18 percent and automotive parts 13 percent, while weapons and ammunition almost doubled.2
Transactions have continued through all of this and into 2026. Strategics, defence groups, industrial holdings and financial investors have all bought businesses in DACH in the last twelve months (pages 11 and 12).
What has changed is what buyers pay for. They pay for a defensible niche, for an installed base that produces service revenue and for customers outside the car industry. Businesses without that profile still change hands, but more often through a succession sale at a lower price or out of restructuring. Owner succession keeps adding to the supply, with around 186,000 German family businesses due for handover between 2026 and 2030.3
This report follows that sorting through the market, the buyers and the transactions of the last three years, and sets out what it means for owners and for acquirers.
real change in German machinery production forecast for 2026 by the industry association, before a return to growth in 2027. Page 03.
output index 2025 of German weapons and ammunition against fabricated metal products, both on 2021 = 100. Pages 04 and 06.
types of buyer active in the market, each with its own reason to buy and its own target profile. Page 10.
Automation and integration, machinery and components, precision and contract manufacturing, focused on privately held businesses with revenue of roughly EUR 10m to 220m. Larger transactions are shown for context.
1VDMA (2026): Forecast Report Germany, September 2026. https://www.vdma.eu/en/viewer/-/v2article/render/86422832 (accessed 28.09.2026). Detail on page 03.
2Eurostat (2026): Production in industry, annual data, sts_inpr_a, calendar adjusted, data as of 16.09.2026, rebased by Nevon to 2021 = 100. NACE C25, C24.5, C29.3 and C25.4, Germany. https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/databrowser/view/sts_inpr_a (accessed 28.09.2026). Detail on page 04.
3IfM Bonn (2025): Unternehmensnachfolgen in Deutschland 2026 bis 2030, Daten und Fakten Nr. 37, November 2025. https://www.ifm-bonn.org/fileadmin/data/redaktion/publikationen/daten_und_fakten/dokumente/Daten-und-Fakten-37_2025.pdf (accessed 28.09.2026). Detail on page 05.
nevonpartners.comMachinery output across DACH is below its 2021 level.
German machinery production was below the previous year in every month from January to July 2026, by 7.6 percent in July.2 The industry association has cut its 2026 forecast to a real decline of 2 percent and expects growth of 3 percent in 2027.3
In parts of the industry orders are recovering, output is not yet. German machine tool orders rose 14 percent in the first half of 2026 while production fell 7 percent, with aerospace and defence among the most dynamic customer groups.4
of machinery executives in a 2026 survey report margin pressure.5
of Swiss tech industry companies had a negative EBIT margin in the first half of 2026.6
of Austrian metal technology companies expect a negative operating result for 2026.7
1Eurostat (2026): Production in industry, annual data, sts_inpr_a, NACE C28, calendar adjusted, data as of 16.09.2026, rebased by Nevon to 2021 = 100. German data are supplied by Destatis, Austrian by Statistik Austria, Swiss by the Federal Statistical Office. https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/databrowser/view/sts_inpr_a (accessed 28.09.2026).
2Eurostat (2026): Production in industry, monthly data, sts_inpr_m, NACE C28, Germany, change on the same month of the previous year, calendar adjusted. https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/databrowser/view/sts_inpr_m (accessed 28.09.2026).
3VDMA (2026): Forecast Report Germany, September 2026. https://www.vdma.eu/en/viewer/-/v2article/render/86422832 (accessed 28.09.2026).
4VDW (2026): Upward trend confirmed, incoming orders in machine tool industry increase by 12 percent in second quarter, 09.09.2026. https://vdw.de/en/upward-trend-confirmed-incoming-orders-in-machine-tool-industry-increase-by-12-percent-in-second-quarter/ (accessed 28.09.2026).
5Strategy& (2026): How we make, reinvention in the machinery and equipment industry, 21.04.2026, survey of 189 executives. https://www.strategyand.pwc.com/de/de/presse/maschinen-anlagenbau-neu-denken.html (accessed 28.09.2026).
6Swissmem (2026): Tech-Industrie wächst, doch die Erholung bleibt fragil, 24.08.2026. https://www.swissmem.ch/de/mediencorner/medienmitteilungen/die-erholung-in-der-tech-industrie-bleibt-fragil.html (accessed 28.09.2026).
7FMTI, Fachverband Metalltechnische Industrie (2026): press release 28.04.2026. https://www.wko.at/oe/oesterreich/metalltechnische-industrie-leichtes-plus-im-jahr-2025 (accessed 28.09.2026).
nevonpartners.comOnly defence, aerospace and electronics grew since 2021.
The two associations draw the line differently and see different years. Robotics, assembly systems and machine vision expect revenue to fall 5 percent to EUR 14.1 billion in 2026.2 Electrical automation, meaning controls, drives and switchgear, expects growth of around 2 percent.3 German robot installations fell 8 percent in 2025.4 Integration for car plants is shrinking, the control and software layer is not.
A cyclical decline across most of the industry, with orders recovering in parts of the industry (page 03). The pressure is on margins more than on volume, and it is heavier for smaller companies. Swiss SMEs lost 3.8 percent of revenue in the first half of 2026 while the industry as a whole grew 2.5 percent.5
The steepest decline and the most structural. German casting output is around a third below 2018, with no noticeable recovery expected for 2026.6 The exception is electronics manufacturing and every line that supplies defence and aerospace. For a contract manufacturer the customer mix now matters more than the process.
1Eurostat (2026): Production in industry, annual data, sts_inpr_a, calendar adjusted, data as of 16.09.2026, rebased by Nevon to 2021 = 100, Germany. NACE C25.4, C30.3, C26.12, C28, C22.2, C25, C29.3 and C24.5. https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/databrowser/view/sts_inpr_a (accessed 28.09.2026).
2VDMA Robotik + Automation (2026): Robotik- und Automationsbranche weiter unter Druck, February 2026. https://www.vdma.eu/de/viewer/-/v2article/render/161697618 (accessed 28.09.2026).
3ZVEI (2025): ZVEI zur SPS, Industrial AI birgt enormes Effizienzpotenzial für Automation, 25.11.2025. https://www.zvei.org/presse-medien/pressebereich/zvei-zur-sps-industrial-ai-birgt-enormes-effizienzpotenzial-fuer-automation (accessed 28.09.2026).
4IFR (2026): World Robotics 2026, press release EU-27, September 2026. https://ifr.org/downloads/press_docs/EN-2026-SEP-14-IFR_Press_Release_WR-EU-27.pdf (accessed 28.09.2026).
5Swissmem (2026): press release 24.08.2026, first half of 2026 against first half of 2025. https://www.swissmem.ch/de/mediencorner/medienmitteilungen/die-erholung-in-der-tech-industrie-bleibt-fragil.html (accessed 28.09.2026).
6BDG (2025): Die Gießerei-Industrie in Deutschland am Kipppunkt, 21.11.2025, https://www.guss.de/themen/die-giesserei-industrie-in-deutschland-am-kipppunkt; BDG (2026): Konjunkturprognose 2026, 13.01.2026, https://www.guss.de/fileadmin/user_upload/bdg_pm_konjunkturprognose_2026.pdf (both accessed 28.09.2026).
nevonpartners.comMachinery is concentrated, metalworking is fragmented.
| NACE DIVISION OR GROUP | ENTERPRISES | 50 TO 249 EMPL. | 250 AND MORE | TURNOVER, EUR BN | SHARE, 50 TO 249 | SHARE, 250 AND MORE |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| C28 Machinery and equipment | 15,528 | 2,067 | 801 | 368.6 | 12.6% | 81.5% |
| C26 Computer, electronic and optical | 7,855 | 743 | 232 | 115.8 | 14.8% | 77.0% |
| C24.5 Casting of metals | 577 | 125 | 57 | 14.4 | 19.8% | 75.4% |
| C22 Rubber and plastic products | 6,765 | 1,182 | 323 | 101.4 | 23.5% | 67.0% |
| C25 Fabricated metal products | 40,568 | 2,541 | 471 | 168.9 | 26.7% | 49.6% |
family businesses in the producing sector, construction included, due for handover.2
of German SME owners planning a handover prefer a sale to an external buyer. 57 percent of owners are 55 or older.3
owners seeking a successor per prospective buyer in chamber advisory sessions.4
businesses with employees due for handover, 23 percent of all employer businesses.5
1Eurostat (2026): Structural business statistics by size class, sbs_sc_ovw, reference year 2024, enterprises and net turnover, Germany. Shares of turnover are a Nevon calculation from turnover by size class. https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/databrowser/view/sbs_sc_ovw (accessed 28.09.2026).
2IfM Bonn (2025): Unternehmensnachfolgen in Deutschland 2026 bis 2030, Daten und Fakten Nr. 37, November 2025. Businesses with a profit above the transfer threshold and an owner aged 62 or older. https://www.ifm-bonn.org/fileadmin/data/redaktion/publikationen/daten_und_fakten/dokumente/Daten-und-Fakten-37_2025.pdf (accessed 28.09.2026).
3KfW Research (2026): Nachfolge-Monitoring Mittelstand 2025, Fokus Volkswirtschaft Nr. 526, 09.01.2026. Survey of SMEs, multiple answers. https://www.kfw.de/PDF/Download-Center/Konzernthemen/Research/PDF-Dokumente-Fokus-Volkswirtschaft/Fokus-2026/Fokus-Nr.-526-Januar-2026-Nachfolge-Monitoring.pdf (accessed 28.09.2026).
4DIHK (2025): DIHK-Report Unternehmensnachfolge 2025, July 2025. 9,636 senior owners and 4,016 prospective successors in IHK advisory sessions in 2024. https://www.dihk.de/resource/blob/134302/195174566635ef655907ea91b0ec327a/unternehmensentwicklung-dihk-report-unternehmensnachfolge-2025-data.pdf (accessed 28.09.2026).
5Bundesministerium für Wirtschaft, Energie und Tourismus (2026): Unternehmensnachfolge. https://www.bmwet.gv.at/Themen/Wirtschaftsstandort-Oesterreich/KMU/unternehmensnachfolge.html (accessed 28.09.2026).
nevonpartners.comThe car is losing weight as a customer.
people in the German automotive industry in mid-2026, down 5.8 percent in a year and the lowest since 2005.1
average EBIT margin of European automotive suppliers in 2024, the weakest of the major regions.2
The industry association expects around 225,000 automotive jobs to be lost in Germany between 2019 and 2035, about 100,000 of them already. Among its mid-sized members, 54 percent are cutting staff in Germany and 67 percent are postponing, relocating or cancelling investment.3
This is not a cycle to sit out. Chinese suppliers now hold 14 percent of the revenue of the global top 100, against 5 percent in 2015.4
German defence budget for 2026 including the special fund, of which EUR 47.9bn for procurement.5
of German industrial companies already supply the defence industry, and a further 12 percent plan to.6
German output of weapons and ammunition has almost doubled since 2021 and aircraft production is up by a quarter (page 04). Worldwide, defence, data centres and infrastructure are expected to account for around 37 percent of the growth in industrial technology to 2030, while the car's share of that growth falls from 9 to 4 percent.7 Three in four automotive SMEs consider diversification promising, and almost two thirds of them name defence first.8
The effect should not be overstated. The German Economic Institute calls the industrial effect of higher defence spending limited, and the demand needs qualifications and approvals most suppliers do not yet hold.9 In our view defence is an additional customer, not a replacement for the car.
1Destatis (2026): press release 14.08.2026, businesses with 50 or more employees, end of the first half of 2026. https://www.destatis.de/DE/Presse/Pressemitteilungen/2026/08/PD26_N057_42.html (accessed 28.09.2026).
2Roland Berger and Lazard (2025): Global Automotive Supplier Study 2025, 02.05.2025, around 600 suppliers. https://www.rolandberger.com/en/Insights/Publications/Global-Automotive-Supplier-Study-2025.html (accessed 28.09.2026).
3VDA (2026): press releases 12.05.2026, net change against 2019, https://www.vda.de/en/press/press-releases/2026/260513_PM_decline_in_jobs_within_automotive_industry-, and 17.06.2026, survey of 116 member companies, https://www.vda.de/en/press/press-releases/2026/260617_PM_Mittelstandstag_2026_EN (both accessed 28.09.2026).
4Strategy& (2026): Automobilzulieferer-Studie 2026, 20.08.2026. https://www.strategyand.pwc.com/de/de/branchen/automobil/automobilzulieferer.html (accessed 28.09.2026).
5Deutscher Bundestag (2025): Verteidigungsetat 2026, Textarchiv 26.11.2025. Einzelplan 14 and Sondervermögen Bundeswehr. https://www.bundestag.de/dokumente/textarchiv/2025/kw48-de-verteidigung-1126048 (accessed 28.09.2026).
6DIHK (2026): DIHK survey, one third of German industrial firms see opportunities in the defense industry, 07.04.2026. https://www.dihk.de/en/newsroom/dihk-survey-one-third-of-german-industrial-firms-see-opportunities-in-the-defense-industry-178928 (accessed 28.09.2026).
7BCG (2026): Industrial Tech's New Growth Engines Are Emerging, 13.04.2026. Global market, growth to 2030. https://www.bcg.com/publications/2026/industrial-techs-new-growth-engines-are-emerging (accessed 28.09.2026).
8Roland Berger (2025): A turning point for automotive SMEs, 02.09.2025, DACH survey. https://www.rolandberger.com/en/Insights/Publications/A-turning-point-for-automotive-SMEs-New-paths-to-growth-beyond-automotive.html (accessed 28.09.2026).
9IW Köln (2026): Volkswirtschaftliche und industrielle Effekte der steigenden Verteidigungsausgaben in Deutschland, IW-Trends 3/2026, 14.08.2026. https://www.iwkoeln.de/studien/thomas-obst-klaus-heiner-roehl-volkswirtschaftliche-und-industrielle-effekte-der-steigenden-verteidigungsausgaben-in-deutschland.html (accessed 28.09.2026).
nevonpartners.comChina has become a competitor and headcount is falling.
China's share of world machinery production in 2025, against 27 percent for the EU.1
German machinery imports from China, January to September 2025, while exports to China fell 8.8 percent.2
German machinery exports to China have fallen 17.5 percent since 2022.3 In a 2026 survey 59 percent of machinery executives said they compete with suppliers from outside Europe, China foremost among them in standard machinery.4 In robotics Chinese manufacturers already supply 55 percent of their home market, the largest in the world, and the first of them have set up European distribution hubs.5
Standard machinery competes on price with a rival that has scale. Niche technology, application know-how and service close to the customer do not. For contract manufacturers working for local customers, China is in our view rarely a direct competitor.
of German machinery companies expect to employ fewer people in twelve months.6
jobs forecast for German manufacturing in 2026, and a further 130,000 in 2027.7
The general labour shortage of recent years has eased with the downturn, and the arithmetic gap across all occupations fell by around a quarter in 2025.8 It has not disappeared where specific skills are needed. Machinery companies still report shortages in electronics and electrical engineering, IT and software and mechatronics.6 In metal cutting and welding the gap between vacancies and qualified jobseekers widened again in 2025, which the German Economic Institute attributes to demand from defence and infrastructure.9
For a buyer the relevant question is therefore not how many people a business employs, but who designs, programs and commissions, how long they have stayed and whether they would stay after a sale.
1VDMA (2026): Maschinenbau in Zahl und Bild 2026. https://www.vdma.eu/de/maschinenbau-zahl-bild (accessed 28.09.2026).
2VDMA (2025): Jahrespressekonferenz 2025, charts, 09.12.2025. Nominal values. https://www.vdma.eu/documents/d/group-34568/25-12-09_vdma-jahres-pk-2025_charts (accessed 28.09.2026).
3IW Köln (2026): Matthes, Deutscher Warenhandel mit China, IW-Kurzbericht 13/2026, 24.02.2026. https://www.iwkoeln.de/fileadmin/user_upload/Studien/Kurzberichte/PDF/2026/IW-Kurzbericht_2026-Deutscher-Warenhandel-mit-China.pdf (accessed 28.09.2026).
4Strategy& (2026): How we make, 21.04.2026, survey of 189 executives. https://www.strategyand.pwc.com/de/de/presse/maschinen-anlagenbau-neu-denken.html (accessed 28.09.2026).
5IFR (2026): Five million robots now operate in factories globally, 24.09.2026, https://ifr.org/ifr-press-releases/news/five-million-robots-now-operate-in-factories-globally; IFR (2026): World Robotics 2026, press release EU-27, https://ifr.org/downloads/press_docs/EN-2026-SEP-14-IFR_Press_Release_WR-EU-27.pdf (both accessed 28.09.2026).
6VDMA (2026): Beschäftigungsentwicklung im Maschinenbau, survey charts 03.06.2026, more than 300 participants. https://www.vdma.eu/documents/d/group-34568/2026-06-03-grafiken-beschaftigungsentwicklung-1 (accessed 28.09.2026).
7IAB (2026): IAB-Kurzbericht 17/2026, labour market forecast, 24.09.2026. https://doku.iab.de/kurzber/2026/kb2026-17.pdf (accessed 28.09.2026).
8IW Köln, KOFA (2026): Jahresrückblick 2025, KOFA Kompakt 3/2026, 25.03.2026. https://www.iwkoeln.de/studien/jurek-tiedemann-gero-kunath-paula-risius-jahresrueckblick-2025-schwacher-arbeitsmarkt-erste-impulse-durch-sondervermoegen.html (accessed 28.09.2026).
9IW Köln, KOFA (2026): Fachkräftereport März 2026, 01.07.2026. Metal cutting 8,821 (+1,730), welding and joining 5,903 (+2,272), arithmetic gap between vacancies and suitably qualified jobseekers. https://www.kofa.de/media/Publikationen/KOFA_Kompakt/Fachkraeftereport_Maerz_2026.pdf (accessed 28.09.2026).
nevonpartners.comService earns more than new machines, and the car least.
The growth layer
Industrial automation is expected to grow 12.5 percent a year worldwide to 2030, machines and components 3.3 percent.1 Machinery makers have raised the share of software acquisitions in their deal value faster than any other industrial sector.2
The value is moving towards standardised hardware and software. Bespoke integration for a single industry carries the cycle of that industry.3
The installed base pays
New equipment earns a gross margin of 15 to 25 percent, spare parts and consumables around 50 percent. Service makes up around a third of revenue at machine builders with direct customer access and around 17 percent at component makers.4 The benchmark covers manufacturers with average revenue above USD 2bn. Over a product's life, service often generates more than half of the total profit.5
Digital services, platforms and as-a-service models still contribute only 1 to 4 percent of revenue.6
Little is published, and the car earns least
No margin data is published for contract manufacturers as a group. The closest evidence is their largest customer industry: classic mechanical and mechatronic automotive suppliers earn margins in the low single digits,7 and a third of European automotive suppliers were loss-making or at break-even in 2025.8
In our view the exceptions are set apart by the customer, the certification and a process that is hard to copy.
Two companies with the same revenue and the same EBITDA can sit at opposite ends of a valuation range. The difference is usually the share of earnings that repeats without a new sale, the degree to which the product or process is the company's own, and the share of revenue that sits with the largest customers. None of the three is visible in the income statement, and all three are examined in due diligence.
1BCG (2026): Industrial Tech's New Growth Engines Are Emerging, 13.04.2026. Global market, compound annual growth to 2030. https://www.bcg.com/publications/2026/industrial-techs-new-growth-engines-are-emerging (accessed 28.09.2026).
2Bain & Company (2026): M&A in Machinery and Equipment, The Strategic Rise of Software, 27.01.2026. https://www.bain.com/insights/machinery-and-equipment-m-and-a-report-2026/ (accessed 28.09.2026).
3Roland Berger (2026): Industrial automation update 2026, 16.01.2026. https://www.rolandberger.com/en/Insights/Publications/Industrial-automation-update-2026.html (accessed 28.09.2026).
4BCG (2025): Aftermarket Services Drive Growth and Higher Margins for Industrial Manufacturers, 06.02.2025, benchmark of around 100 manufacturers with average revenue above USD 2bn. https://www.bcg.com/publications/2025/aftermarket-services-drive-growth-for-industrial-manufacturers (accessed 28.09.2026).
5Bain & Company (2024): Machinery and Equipment, The Circular Path to Value, 03.04.2024. https://www.bain.com/insights/machinery-and-equipment-the-circular-path-to-value-global-machinery-and-equipment-report-2024/ (accessed 28.09.2026).
6Strategy& (2026): How we make, 21.04.2026. https://www.strategyand.pwc.com/de/de/presse/maschinen-anlagenbau-neu-denken.html (accessed 28.09.2026).
7Strategy& (2026): Automobilzulieferer-Studie 2026, 20.08.2026. https://www.strategyand.pwc.com/de/de/branchen/automobil/automobilzulieferer.html (accessed 28.09.2026).
8CLEPA (2026): Data Digest #24, 14.01.2026. https://www.clepa.eu/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/Data-Digest-24.pdf (accessed 28.09.2026).
nevonpartners.comBuyers have become more selective, not less active.
- Niche manufacturers of EUR 10m to 40m revenue with their own product and a leading position in a narrow field. Holdings and serial acquirers look for this profile, with repeat business and a management that stays (page 10).1
- Measurement, ultra-precision and control technology, often bought by foreign strategics (page 11).
- Carve-outs from groups that are refocusing: drive technology, automation engineering, machine tools and textile machinery have all changed hands this way.
- Capacity and people for defence and aerospace, including whole plants from other industries (page 12).
- Precision parts makers as platforms for buy-and-build, usually triggered by succession (page 12).
- Contract manufacturers that depend on the car. Where they change owner, it is mostly out of insolvency or a restructuring, to specialised turnaround investors (page 12).
- Smaller system integrators working mainly on car-plant projects are rarely visible as targets in the period.
- The number of insolvencies is the highest in two decades. In 2025 around 62,000 jobs in German manufacturing were affected, although manufacturing cases in the second quarter of 2026 were below the previous year.2
of the selected transactions on pages 11 and 12 were signed in 2026, by strategics, defence groups, serial acquirers and sponsor platforms.
global M&A value in 2025, with the number of transactions roughly unchanged.3
Most transactions in this segment are never announced with a price and many are not announced at all. The buyers visible from outside are a fraction of those who would engage: family-owned industrial groups, foreign strategics looking for a German base and sponsor platforms rarely publish a programme. The first buyer who calls is seldom the only one who would have.
1Indutrade (2025): Acquisition strategy, Capital Markets Day presentation, https://www.indutrade.com/contentassets/be4f81b41dbb47f481993edce102a6ee/acquisition-strategy---gustav-ruda-andrea-imbriani-richard-denlin.pdf; Lagercrantz (2026): Annual Report 2025/26, https://attachment.news.eu.nasdaq.com/aed5c12d13b1a097b296744218d178263 (both accessed 28.09.2026). Stated acquisition criteria.
2IWH (2026): IWH-Insolvenztrend, press releases 08.01.2026 and 09.07.2026. Partnerships and corporations; 17,604 cases in 2025, the highest since 2005. https://www.iwh-halle.de/en/press/press-releases/detail/iwh-insolvenztrend-firmenpleiten-2025-auf-hoechstem-stand-seit-zwei-jahrzehnten and https://www.iwh-halle.de/en/press/press-releases/detail/iwh-insolvenztrend-firmenpleiten-im-zweiten-quartal-auf-hoechstem-stand-seit-mehr-als-zwei-jahrzehnten (accessed 28.09.2026).
3McKinsey & Company (2026): Top M&A trends, 13.02.2026. Global deal value USD 4.7 trillion. https://www.mckinsey.com/capabilities/m-and-a/our-insights/top-m-and-a-trends (accessed 28.09.2026).
nevonpartners.comFive types of buyer are active, each for its own reason.
Industrial strategics
Buy technology, a product that completes their range or a step of their own supply chain, and take over units that groups are shedding. A growing share of their deal value goes into software.1
Carve-outs, niche technology, backward integration
Defence and aerospace groups
Buy capacity, qualified people and specific technology. Whole plants from other industries have been converted, and propulsion for drones has become a target field of its own.
Capacity, approvals, propulsion and components
Industrial holdings and serial acquirers
Add niche leaders to a decentralised group and leave the management in place. They buy steadily through the cycle and look for a leading niche position, stable margins and repeat business.2
Niche manufacturers of EUR 10m to 40m revenue
Financial investors
Build platforms in precision parts and components, usually starting with a succession case in which the owner reinvests, then add bolt-ons. Tighter credit makes them more selective (page 13).
Succession cases, buy-and-build platforms
Restructuring investors
Take over automotive suppliers and plastics processors out of insolvency or as carve-outs, often as asset deals, and combine them into platforms.
Insolvencies, carve-outs, asset deals
Foreign buyers
Foreign buyers are not a type of their own. They appear in every group, from US, Swiss and Japanese strategics to Nordic serial acquirers, and face the investment screening described on page 13.
The five types rarely compete for the same business. A precision parts maker with aerospace approvals will interest a defence group, a sponsor platform and possibly a serial acquirer, but not a restructuring investor. A measurement technology company will interest strategics from several countries. Mapping which types a business fits, and why, is the first step of any process in this market, and it often shows a wider field than the owner expected.
1Bain & Company (2026): M&A in Machinery and Equipment, The Strategic Rise of Software, 27.01.2026. https://www.bain.com/insights/machinery-and-equipment-m-and-a-report-2026/ (accessed 28.09.2026). The transactions behind each type are listed on pages 11 and 12.
2Stated acquisition criteria in Indutrade (2025): Acquisition strategy, Capital Markets Day presentation, https://www.indutrade.com/contentassets/be4f81b41dbb47f481993edce102a6ee/acquisition-strategy---gustav-ruda-andrea-imbriani-richard-denlin.pdf, and Lagercrantz (2026): Annual Report 2025/26, https://attachment.news.eu.nasdaq.com/aed5c12d13b1a097b296744218d178263 (both accessed 28.09.2026).
nevonpartners.comAutomation and machinery: carve-outs and niche leaders.
| DATE | TARGET | COUNTRY | BUYER | TYPE | DISCLOSED1 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| AUTOMATION AND INTEGRATION | |||||
| 03.2026 | ROFA Industrial Automation | Germany | SPIE | Strategic, France | Revenue around EUR 430m, more than 1,200 staff. Signed |
| 11.2025 | thyssenkrupp Automation Eng. | Germany | Agile Robots | Strategic, robotics | Carve-out from thyssenkrupp, completed 04.2026 |
| 02.2025 | Newston Automated Solutions | Germany | Callista | Restructuring investor | Carve-out from Carl Zeiss, revenue EUR 30m, 75 staff |
| 06.2023 | BBS Automation | Germany | Dürr | Strategic, from a sponsor | Revenue around EUR 300m, EV EUR 440m to 480m |
| MACHINERY AND COMPONENTS | |||||
| 02.2026 | RAMME Electric Machines | Germany | Addtech | Serial acquirer | Revenue around EUR 38m, 156 staff |
| 11.2025 | Axion | Germany | Addtech | Serial acquirer | Camera and sensor systems, revenue around EUR 23m |
| 10.2025 | LWB Steinl | Germany | Shibaura Machine | Strategic, Japan | 80 percent from the family, memorandum of understanding |
| 09.2025 | innovatek OS | Germany | Addtech | Serial acquirer | Cooling systems and controls, revenue around EUR 12m |
| 07.2025 | Eckart | Germany | GESCO | Serial acquirer | From the family, revenue around EUR 20m, 137 staff |
| 05.2025 | SIKORA | Germany | Dover | Strategic, United States | EUR 550m in cash for revenue of around EUR 100m |
| 05.2025 | Barmag | Germany | Rieter | Strategic, Switzerland | Carve-out, enterprise value CHF 850m, revenue CHF 734m |
| 02.2025 | Kern Microtechnik | Germany | AMETEK | Strategic, United States | Revenue around EUR 50m |
| 01.2025 | ECOROLL | Germany | Indutrade | Serial acquirer | Revenue around EUR 13m, 65 staff |
| 10.2024 | GF Machining Solutions | Switzerland | United Grinding | Strategic, family holding | Carve-out, transaction value CHF 630m to 650m |
| 08.2024 | DECKMA | Germany | INDUS | Serial acquirer | 75 percent from the founders, revenue around EUR 19m |
| 03.2024 | ebm-papst Industrial Drives | Germany | Siemens | Strategic | Carve-out from a family group, around 650 staff |
| 02.2024 | Netstal | Switzerland | Krones | Strategic | Carve-out, price around EUR 170m, revenue above EUR 200m |
| 12.2023 | KRACHT | Germany | Atlas Copco | Strategic, Sweden | Revenue around EUR 72m, 440 staff |
1Dates are signing or announcement. All figures as disclosed by the parties in the announcements of SPIE, thyssenkrupp, Callista, Addtech, Siemens, Dürr, Shibaura Machine, GESCO, Dover, Rieter and OC Oerlikon, AMETEK, Indutrade and Pinova, Georg Fischer and United Grinding, INDUS, Krones and KraussMaffei, and Atlas Copco, and in the annual reports of Georg Fischer. Where no figure is shown, none was disclosed. The BBS Automation revenue is the buyer's estimate for 2023.
nevonpartners.comManufacturing: platforms, defence and restructuring.
| DATE | TARGET | COUNTRY | BUYER | TYPE | DISCLOSED1 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PRECISION AND CONTRACT MANUFACTURING | |||||
| 09.2026 | Kurt Kauffmann Federn | Germany | Sauter Group (SEVEST) | Sponsor platform, bolt-on | Succession, now a top-five German spring maker |
| 07.2026 | HK Präzisionsteile | Germany | AXENTA (Borromin) | Sponsor platform, bolt-on | First step of a stated buy-and-build strategy |
| 06.2026 | Createc | Germany | Indutrade | Serial acquirer | Composite components, revenue around EUR 23m |
| 01.2026 | R. Neddermann | Germany | Festo | Strategic, family-owned | Seals, bought to deepen in-house production |
| 11.2025 | Herbrig & Co. | Germany | Borromin | Sponsor, new platform | Turned parts, succession, owner reinvests, 200+ staff |
| 11.2025 | HEGUtechnik | Germany | Lifco | Serial acquirer | Electronics manufacturing, revenue around EUR 10m |
| 07.2025 | Stöffl Rudolf | Austria | Lifco | Serial acquirer | Vibration technology, revenue around EUR 15m |
| 12.2024 | Profectus | Germany | Cicor | Strategic, Switzerland | Electronics manufacturing, revenue around EUR 25m |
| DEFENCE AND AEROSPACE BUYERS | |||||
| 04.2026 | AeroDesignWorks | Germany | MTU Aero Engines | Strategic, aerospace | Drone and missile turbines, from the founders |
| 09.2025 | SOBEK Group | Germany | DEUTZ | Strategic, entering defence | Drone drives, revenue in the tens of EUR m |
| 06.2025 | Grob Aircraft | Germany | Helsing | Defence technology | Composite aircraft, around 275 staff |
| 02.2025 | Alstom plant Görlitz | Germany | KNDS | Strategic, defence | 350 to 400 staff, assemblies for Leopard 2 and Puma |
| RESTRUCTURING | |||||
| 11.2025 | Gerhardi Kunststofftechnik | Germany | HF Opportunities | Restructuring investor | Out of insolvency, around 1,000 jobs |
| 10.2024 | S.M.A. Metalltechnik | Germany | Mutares | Restructuring investor | Asset deal, revenue around EUR 160m |
1Dates are signing or announcement. All figures as disclosed by the parties in the announcements of SEVEST, Borromin, Indutrade, Festo, Lifco, Cicor, MTU Aero Engines, DEUTZ, Helsing, KNDS and Alstom, HF Opportunities and Mutares. Where no figure is shown, none was disclosed.
nevonpartners.comFinancing has tightened, which favours buyers with their own balance sheet.
after two increases in June and September 2026, the first since 2023, from 2.00 percent.1
of SMEs describe their banks as restrictive, the highest value since the survey began in 2017.2
net share of euro area banks tightening standards for corporate loans in the second quarter of 2026, most strongly for the car industry.3
of the price paid by two Nordic serial acquirers in their last financial year was contingent consideration.4
A leveraged buyer now pays more for debt and gets less of it, especially for a business with automotive exposure. Strategics and listed holdings that fund acquisitions from their own cash flow are less affected. In our view this shifts the balance of a competitive process towards them and makes earn-outs, vendor loans and staged acquisitions of the remaining shares a normal part of a German mid-market transaction rather than an exception.
The EU has agreed that every member state must screen foreign investment at least in dual-use and military goods, critical technologies such as AI and semiconductors, critical raw materials and critical infrastructure, applicable 18 months after the regulation enters into force.5 Chinese investment in the EU and the UK rose 67 percent to EUR 16.8bn in 2025, of which EUR 2.5bn in Germany, concentrated in the automotive and battery sectors.6 For automation and defence-related targets a non-EU buyer should expect a longer timetable and a higher closing risk.
1ECB (2026): Monetary policy decisions, 11.06.2026 and 10.09.2026. https://www.ecb.europa.eu/press/pr/date/2026/html/ecb.mp260910~314e508016.en.html (accessed 28.09.2026).
2KfW Research (2026): KfW-ifo-Kredithürde, second quarter 2026, 07.07.2026. https://www.kfw.de/PDF/Download-Center/Konzernthemen/Research/PDF-Dokumente-KfW-ifo-Kredithuerde/KfW-ifo-Kredith%C3%BCrde-Q2-2026.pdf (accessed 28.09.2026).
3ECB (2026): The euro area bank lending survey, second quarter of 2026, 21.07.2026. https://www.ecb.europa.eu/stats/ecb_surveys/bank_lending_survey/html/ecb.blssurvey2026q2~baa6b60429.en.html (accessed 28.09.2026).
4Nevon calculation from Addtech, Year-end Report 2025/2026, contingent consideration SEK 404m of SEK 2,056m, and Indutrade, Year-end Report 2025, SEK 347m of SEK 2,125m. https://mb.cision.com/Main/3619/4347027/4102743.pdf and https://storage.mfn.se/c248d200-90e5-45c3-9316-4e2730d54ead/interim-report-and-year-end-report-2025.pdf (accessed 28.09.2026).
5Council of the EU (2025): Foreign direct investment, Council and Parliament reach political agreement to improve FDI screening, 11.12.2025. https://www.consilium.europa.eu/en/press/press-releases/2025/12/11/foreign-direct-investment-council-and-parliament-reached-political-agreement-to-improve-fdi-screening/ (accessed 28.09.2026).
6MERICS and Rhodium Group (2026): Chinese Investment Rises to 7-Year High, Chinese FDI in Europe 2025 Update, 20.05.2026. https://merics.org/en/report/chinese-investment-rises-7-year-high-chinese-fdi-europe-2025-update (accessed 28.09.2026).
nevonpartners.comThe same EBITDA can mean a very different value.
| DRIVER | WHAT BUYERS LOOK AT | EFFECT | PREPARABLE? |
|---|---|---|---|
| Repeat business and service | Service, spare parts, framework and series orders | raises | Yes, documentation |
| Own technology | Own product or process, application know-how, IP | raises | Partly, over years |
| End markets | Car against defence, aerospace, medical, energy | either | Slowly, via approvals |
| Customer concentration | Share of revenue with the largest customers | lowers | Partly |
| Independence from the owner | Second management tier, owner's role in sales | lowers | Yes, the key lever |
| Key people | Who designs, programs, commissions, and stays | raises | Yes, retention plans |
| Order intake and pipeline | Orders and backlog against trailing earnings | either | Yes, pipeline records |
| Machine park and capex | Age, automation, deferred investment | lowers | Partly, priced in full |
Every buyer will examine these drivers in due diligence, and the price will follow what they find. An owner who has looked at them first, with the same rigour, negotiates from facts rather than from expectations and leaves time to fix what can be fixed before the process starts.
Niche technology with its own product, a high share of service and spare parts, customers across several end markets and a second management tier.
Own machines or components and a stable customer base, but little recurring revenue, order intake that follows the cycle and an owner still central to sales.
Capacity sold by the hour, a large share of revenue with the car and a few customers, and technical authority that sits with the owner.
Size, the point in the cycle at which earnings are measured, the type of buyer and the structure of the deal all move the price. A strategic with synergies pays differently from a financial investor, and earn-outs and vendor loans shift part of the price into the future (page 13).
nevonpartners.comOutlook for 2026 and 2027.
The cycle · orders turning, output not yet
Machine tool orders have recovered in 2026 and the industry association expects growth in 2027. Output, however, fell in every month to July, and the 2026 forecast was cut from plus 1 to minus 2 percent during the year.1
Whether 2026 is the trough will show in order intake over the coming quarters. An owner preparing a sale should argue on orders and pipeline, not on the last twelve months.
The buyers · fewer leveraged, more strategic
Tighter credit and higher rates weigh on leveraged buyers more than on strategics and industrial holdings (page 13).
We expect holdings and family-owned strategics to keep their pace, sponsors to focus on succession cases with owner reinvestment, and deferred consideration to remain common.
The supply · more sellers, wider spread
Succession adds sellers every year (page 05), and the automotive transition adds restructuring cases.
We expect the number of businesses for sale to rise faster than the number of buyers, and the price gap between a defensible niche and pure capacity to widen.
WHAT TO WATCH IN 2026 AND 2027
DEFENCE QUALIFICATION
Whether the new defence budgets reach mid-sized suppliers through approvals and repeat orders, or stay concentrated at the prime contractors. The answer decides how many can make the move buyers pay for.
SOFTWARE IN MACHINERY
Machine builders are shifting a growing share of their deal value into software, faster than other industrial sectors. We expect more of them to buy control, vision and data businesses in DACH, and software and service revenue to become a standard due diligence question.
SCREENING AND FOREIGN BUYERS
Mandatory EU investment screening, once it applies 18 months after the regulation enters into force, will affect Asian and US buyers of automation and dual-use technology first. Timetables and conditions will show how far it narrows the field.
1VDMA (2025): Jahrespressekonferenz 2025, charts, 09.12.2025, forecast 2026 of plus 1 percent, https://www.vdma.eu/documents/d/group-34568/25-12-09_vdma-jahres-pk-2025_charts; VDMA (2026): Forecast Report Germany, September 2026, https://www.vdma.eu/en/viewer/-/v2article/render/86422832 (both accessed 28.09.2026).
Everything on this page other than the facts cited on the pages referred to is a Nevon Partners assessment and is not a forecast for any individual company or transaction.
nevonpartners.comWhat to take from this report.
A weak cycle with a widening spread.
Machinery output in all three countries is below its 2021 level, and precision manufacturing has fallen further. Defence, aerospace and electronics are the exceptions, and the gap between businesses that serve them and those that serve the car keeps growing.
Machinery is concentrated in a few hundred large companies, metalworking is spread across tens of thousands, and succession will bring a growing number of owners in both to a decision in the next five years.
Position decides the price, and it can be prepared.
Buyers ask first for the share of repeat business and service, the depth of the company's own technology, the concentration of customers and the key people who would stay. All four can be documented in the twelve to twenty-four months before a process, and few owners do it.
A qualified relationship with a defence, aerospace or medical customer counts. A plan to win one does not yet.
More targets, fewer good ones.
The supply of sellers is rising, but businesses with a defensible niche and customers outside the car remain scarce, and they attract several buyer types at once.
In manufacturing the price of a business with an automotive history is set as much by its restructuring need as by its earnings. Integration capacity and key-person retention matter more here than in most sectors, because much of the know-how sits with a few people.
This is a market in which owners often wait for a better year. For a business with the right position the current year is not a bad one to transact, because buyers are looking for exactly those businesses and find few. For a business without that position, the time before a sale is better spent building it than waiting for the cycle.
nevonpartners.comExperienced. Digital. Human.
A market in which the cycle is weak, buyers are selective and the distance between well and poorly positioned businesses is growing calls for advisers who bring both sector knowledge and process discipline. Three principles guide how we work alongside owners, families and investors in automation and manufacturing.
Partner-led.
In a sector where buyers move quickly and judgement matters, a Partner stays on your deal from first conversation to close. The people you meet are the people who run the process.
Digitally powered.
The same data and AI tools reshaping automation and manufacturing sharpen our work, mapping buyers, benchmarking valuations and running tighter processes, so you reach the right outcome with fewer surprises.
Human at the core.
Selling or scaling an automation and manufacturing business is a personal decision, not only a financial one. Deals turn on trust, and earning it on both sides of the table is the part of the work we care about most.
nevonpartners.comIf you are considering a transaction in automation, machinery or precision manufacturing, whether a sale, a succession solution, a carve-out, a buy-and-build or a single bolt-on, or you simply want to compare notes on the market, we would welcome a conversation.
In this market buyers
pay for position
rather than for size.
Nevon Partners
Munich · Hamburg · Vienna · Dubai
[email protected]
nevonpartners.com
Disclaimer. This report is published for information only. It is not investment, legal or tax advice, not a valuation opinion and not an offer or solicitation. Figures are taken from the sources cited and have not been independently audited. Forward-looking statements are assessments by Nevon Partners and may prove incorrect. Nevon GmbH accepts no liability for decisions taken on the basis of this document. © Nevon GmbH 2026.
EDITION 01 · 2026 · © NEVON GMBH