Mergers and acquisitions in Portugal fall 30% until April
There were 155 deals with a cumulative value of 1.4 billion euros, which represents a drop of 30% in the number of transactions. Real estate and technology were the busiest sectors.
The mergers and acquisitions (M&A) market remains in the red. The context of economic uncertainty in the markets has cooled consolidation, purchase and sale deals, which have once again fallen significantly compared to last year.
Between January and April, there were 155 operations in Portugal, with a cumulative value of 1.4 billion euros, which represents a 30% drop in the number of transactions and a 62% decrease in the capital moved, year-on-year, according to the most recent TTR Data report released this Monday. It’s worth mentioning that only 41% of M&A transactions had their values published.
Analysing the month of April alone, the number of deals fell by 40%, from 52 to 31. The figure stood at 461.9 million euros, down 3% on April 2024. “In sectorial terms, the property sector was the most active in 2025, with 27 transactions, followed by the Internet, software & IT services sector with 21 operations”, reads the database report.
In the cross-border sphere, Spain and the United States were the countries that made the largest number of external M&A investments in Portugal in these four months — 21 and eight transactions, respectively. Curiously, Portuguese companies also chose Spain and the United States as their main investment destinations — eight and five transactions, in the same order.
With regard to the private equity, venture capital and asset acquisitions segments, this trio of investment categories also fell by double digits. There were 17 private equity deals (-29%), 32 venture capital rounds with startups (-38%) worth 176 million euros and 38 asset acquisitions deals (-32%) worth 371 million euros.
The deal of the month was the conclusion of CTT’s acquisition of the Spanish company Cacesa for 106.8 million euros. The operation highlighted by TTR Data analysts was advised by Cuatrecasas Portugal, Lazard and Deloitte. In the ranking of legal advisors, the Iberian law firm leads the way in terms of number of transactions with 13, while Morais Leitão tops the list in terms of value (166.29 million euros). In addition, Banco Bradesco BBI stands out among the financial advisors, although the ranking is incomplete with only one operation on the radar.
