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ARTICLE · 09 JULY 2026

Trends In Dutch Public M&A 2026

A&O Shearman
A&O Shearman
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Strategic buyers dominated Dutch public M&A in 2025, but ongoing geopolitical uncertainty and transformative forces like AI and the energy transition are reshaping the dealmaking landscape. Will strategic M&A continue to take center stage in 2026, or will private equity sponsors return with selective activity where they can bring genuine added value to target businesses?

NetherlandsCorporate/Commercial Law
Olivier Valk
Olivier Valk
Christiaan de Brauw
Christiaan de Brauw
Jeroen Allebrandi
Jeroen Allebrandi
Reinier de Groot
Reinier de Groot
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At a glance

We are pleased to present an overview of the key trends and noticeable events that shaped the Dutch public M&A market from January 1, 2025 to June 26, 2026.

Outlook

We are cautiously optimistic in our outlook for public M&A in 2026. At the time of writing this outlook, ongoing geopolitical and macroeconomic uncertainty seems to be a certainty. This clouds visibility on key dealmaking parameters such as future GDP growth, the regulatory landscape, inflation, interest rates and availability of financing.

At the same time, transformational forces such as AI and the energy transition continue to redefine industries. Depending on the sector and the geographic location of a business, the (cumulative) effects of all the aforementioned can be very different, explaining sectoral and geographic differences.

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