Q2 2026

Construction and Engineering M&A Update

PE deal count in construction & engineering climbed to an estimated 529 in Q2 2026, up 25.7% from Q1’s revised 421 and up 56.5% from Q2 2025’s 338, even as deal value eased to an estimated $28.3 billion from Q1’s $29.3 billion.
Exit count rose to an estimated 56 from Q1’s 54, while exit value fell to $9.5 billion from Q1’s $11.1 billion, though both figures remain well above Q2 2025’s $5.6 billion.
Datacenter construction rose 46% year-over-year, far outpacing any other type of construction. While no surprise directionally, the sheer level of growth in datacenter construction is astounding.
New-issue construction loan spreads tightened to 286 basis points in 1H 2026 from 304 in 2025, extending a multiyear tightening trend that continues to make construction-related LBOs less costly to finance. Entry valuations averaged 9.2x TEV/EBITDA for 2025, up from 7.8x in 2024.
Specialty construction remains the most attractive segment, containing many fragmented businesses well suited to the classic PE playbook of buy, build, scale, and exit. Specialty engineering is a similar category and the second pick for above-average returns over time.