The 2025 UK M&A market has shown a significant shift in what influences successful transactions, with business owners increasingly focused on understanding buyers and the motives behind an acquisition.

Compared to previous times, business owners believe it’s important to find out more about the people and organisations behind acquisitions. All acquirers, including multinational corporates and private equity investors, bring their own goals and strategies to the table. In today’s competitive market, knowing who is buying your business - and why - is just as important as knowing your valuation multiples.

For sellers, building a business - often from scratch - means creating a strong legacy in a competitive market for long-term success and growth. When selling either through a complete or partial exit, knowing who you are handing your business over to for its next stage of growth is crucial. This means taking the time to understand the profile of potential buyers in order to attract the best competitive offer for your business and strengthen its market position.

In this article, we explore the buyer environment in the M&A market and the buyer’s motives behind acquisitions, based on research conducted by MarktoMarket, as well as how buyer types are influencing deal structures in 2025. We will also examine how to strengthen your appeal to different types of acquirers and share expert advice from GS Verde Group on how we can position your business to appeal to the right acquirer for future success.

Buyers in 2025 and What the Data Reveals

Whether you're preparing for a business exit or seeking an investor to enhance your business’s long-term growth, gaining an understanding of the buyer landscape ahead of time will strengthen your acquisition goals.

MarktoMarket’s ‘UK M&A Valuation Barometer’ July 2025 report provides extensive research based on the current acquisition market along with how trade buyers, private equity firms, and listed companies are creating deal activity shifts. For business owners wanting to know the reasons behind an acquisition, the report examines the decisions that are currently influencing acquisitions in 2025.

According to the report’s analysis of June 2025 M&A activity, trade buyers dominated the UK M&A market. Trade buyers accounted for 60% of completed deals, followed by private equity firms and portfolio companies at 27%, with the remaining share from listed companies that expanded their business through acquisition.

With acquirers dominating the M&A market, it’s clear to see that there is a strong appetite from corporates looking for strategic ways to enhance their market position.

Often, buyers embark on their acquisition journey with the motivation to:

• Integrate the seller’s products or services into their brand
• Expand their geographical footprint and client base
• Secure their supply chain resilience
• Access specialist skills or technologies without the time and cost of developing a business organically

Private equity investors are also seen to be highly active in the M&A market, with a significant focus on opportunities that align with their return on investment (ROI) objectives. An effective strategy that private equity investors apply is platform building – whereby they acquire a well-positioned and established business with the goal to expand through targeted bolt-on acquisitions.

With this goal in mind, private equity investors look for companies that have:

• Predictable streams of revenue
• Strong intellectual property (IP) and defensible market positions
• A business model that’s scalable for growth
• Strong margins and potential for operational improvements.

Acquisition Motivations for Buyers

Business owners who decide to sell, especially after building a company from the ground up and successfully establishing its market position by the time of sale, should approach an acquisition with confidence and clarity by understanding a buyer’s motives. This means understanding the motivations behind why buyers pursue acquisitions sets the foundation for a successful transaction process.

This decision often goes far beyond simply securing revenue growth - it’s often shaped by a buyer’s long-term strategic objectives, evolving market conditions, and competitive advantages that a seller can deliver.

For sellers, gaining knowledge and understanding of a buyer’s motivations is critical, as this enables them to showcase their business to attract buyers and cater to what they value most.

While all acquirers have different and unique goals, MarktoMarket’s data reveal several recurring themes that are shaping buyer and private equity behaviour and motives in 2025:

• Strategic Fit: Buyers are attracted to businesses that will enhance their position in a competitive market, open doors to more acquisition opportunities and align with their existing capabilities.
• Synergy Opportunities: Acquirers are attracted to target companies that produce efficient cost structures and operations along with any potential cross-selling opportunities.
• Access to Innovation: With rapid changes regarding technologies and industry regulations, buyers believe that acquiring proprietary IP, patented products, or specialist expertise can be the fastest way to stay ahead of the competition.
• Revenue Predictability: Businesses with recurring revenues, long-term contracts and a loyal customer base are favoured when it comes to stability and reduced risk.
• Scalability: Investors are attracted to businesses with a scalable business model that can bring revenue growth without proportionate cost increases - improving margins and boosting value.

How Buyer Types are Influencing Deal Structures

The type of buyer entering the transaction is just as important as the motivation behind an acquisition. The type of buyer not only influences the negotiation stage, it often determines the entire deal structure of the acquisition. Understanding this enables sellers to prepare for negotiation discussions ahead of time – this can include payment terms, management and post-completion arrangements.

MarktoMarket’s report shows that, regardless of buyer type, June 2025 consisted of mid-market transactions that achieved strong multiples - with cross-sector deals under £250m that delivered median valuations of 6.0x EV/EBITDA and 1.3x EV/Revenue. Along with this, the report demonstrates that sector alignment, deal structure flexibility and strategic fit are often determined by whether a transaction closed on those benchmarks or in fact exceeded them.

The report also shows that the types of buyers achieving acquisition success in 2025 are directly shaping deal structures in the following ways:

• Trade Buyer Structures: Corporate buyers often prepare themselves to offer straightforward, all-cash deals - particularly in a situation where the acquisition is strategically critical. They may also negotiate earn-outs or deferred consideration to ensure aligned performance after completion.
• Private Equity Structures: Private equity investors often structure deals to help retain existing management - creating equity rollover opportunities where founders can have involvement in future growth and eventual exit proceeds. This appealing route enables owners to remain involved while realising the significant upfront value of the sale.
• Listed Buyer Structures: Listed company acquisitions tend to have a mixture of cash and shares, which enable sellers to benefit from future share price growth and trust in the long-term prospects of the buyer.

Strengthening Your Appeal to Different Buyer Types

Attracting the interest of the right buyer type for your company means you need to have more than a profitable business. It involves customising your market position to align with a buyer’s specific goals, preferences, and decision-making criteria.

Early preparation is key - allowing sellers to expand their pool of potential buyers ahead of time, establish their competitive edge, increase valuation and improve the terms of the acquisition.

There are various practical steps for a seller to consider, such as:

• Highlighting Your Unique Value Proposition: This involves making it clear what separates your business from competitors such as market-leading technology, a strong brand reputation and a loyal customer base.
• Demonstrating Integration Readiness: Showing that your operations, systems, and culture are ready for seamless integration – which is an important factor for many acquirers.
• Strengthening Governance and Reporting: Enhancing your financial, operational and compliance processes will attract both trade and private equity investors, and will support your valuation credibility ahead of a sale.
• Identifying Synergy Potential: This demonstrates the ways in which acquirers can benefit post-deal such as cost savings, operational benefits and cross-selling opportunities.

How GS Verde Group Helps You Engage the Right Buyer

At GS Verde Group, we believe in the importance of finding the right buyer for your business for long-term success. This doesn’t always mean deciding on a buyer that offers the highest initial price, rather a buyer that can deliver the best strategic fit, cultural and goal alignment, along with the best long-term outcome for your business.

Our team of legal, corporate finance, tax, and communications experts apply a ‘one team’ approach to deliver end-to-end services under one roof with real, effective results. By choosing us to help you with your acquisition journey, you can trust that we will:

• Identify and outreach to buyers actively seeking acquisition opportunities in your sector
• Conduct thorough due diligence and valuation processes
• Help to position your business so it aligns with the specific criteria that buyers and private equity investors have
• Negotiate deal terms that protect both your business’s value and legacy.
• Provide valuation benchmarking to support realistic yet ambitious price expectations

Expert Advice from GS Verde Group

At GS Verde Group, we understand that finding your buyer is equally important as knowing your valuation multiples. By discovering the different types of buyers in the market, their reasons to acquire and conducting early preparation ahead of a sale, you will be able to attract a strong acquirer or investor for your business while securing a deal that delivers maximum value and safeguards your legacy.

Whether you’re preparing for an acquisition this year, or exploring your sale options, GS Verde Group can help you navigate the process and bring you clarity, confidence, and effective outcomes.