Q3 2025

Business Services M&A Update

In Q3, the S&P CSE Commercial & Professional Services Index decreased by 5.1% and was outperformed by a 7.9% increase in the S&P over the same period.
The median EV/EBITDA multiple for reported private equity deals decreased to 12.1x in YTD 2025 from 17.2x in 2024, and decreased for strategic deals to 6.5x from 6.7x in the prior year.
M&A deal volume in the business services sector increased 2.8% in Q3 to 1,006 deals from 979 in Q2 and increased 9.1% from 917 in Q3 of the prior year.
Total capital invested in M&A transactions increased 34.7% in Q3 to $16.7B from $12.4B in Q2, in large part from the Dun & Bradstreet deal mentioned below.
North America was the second most active region in Q3, behind Europe, with 178 deals. Most notably in North America was Clearlake Capital’s $7.7 billion acquisition of Dun & Bradstreet, a Florida-based provider of business data and analytics, in August 2025.