Q2 2025

Food & Consumer M&A Update

In Q2, the S&P Food & Beverage Select Industry Index decreased by 2.4% and was outperformed by the S&P 500, which increased by 10.2% over the same period.
The median EV/EBITDA multiple for reported strategic deals in the Food & Consumer sector decreased to 5.8x in 1H from 14.7x in 2024, while there was insufficient reported data available for PE EV/EBITDA multiples.
M&A deal volume in the sector increased 5.3% in Q2 to 474 deals from 450 in Q1, but decreased 1.5% from 481 in Q2 of the prior year.
As a % of total capital invested in M&A transactions, private equity participation decreased significantly in 1H to 19.0% from 35.4% in 2024.
Europe was the most active region in Q2 with 196 deals. Most notably in Europe was EP Global Commerce’s $2.2 billion acquisition of Metro, a German operator of 600+ self-service cash & carry stores with a rapidly expanding foodservice distribution platform, in April 2025.