The term Industry 4.0 – referring to the digitalization and interconnectivity of products, supply chains, and business models – captures the major challenges and strategic ambitions of Switzerland’s industrial enterprises. Connected machines, the Internet of Things (IoT), and Big Data are rapidly becoming indispensable for optimizing production processes and monitoring product quality. Efficiency improvements and gains in market share are common rationales behind industrial M&A transactions, whether through joint ventures or through acquisitions/divestitures.

Despite being the most dynamic part of the economy, the service sector often plays second fiddle to agriculture and industry, which continue to dominate the politico-economic debate. Consolidation, particularly across borders, has become a commonplace strategy for service providers. In addition, process digitalization, especially in the logistics industry, is driving transactions. Large public corporations and private equity funds are active buyers.

Health care is facing a fundamental trade-off between the pursuit of personalized medical and pharmaceutical solutions on the one hand and the ever-present call for lower costs on the other. Demographic changes and the prevalence of chronic ailments are driving demand for care and medical intervention; so do ever-expanding treatment options. Accordingly, health care providers strive to diversify or restructure their offering, leading to the significant M&A activity observable in the market today.

Providers of consumer goods are struggling with capturing the potential of new technologies. There is a growing divergence between the skills of today’s employees and the skillsets needed going forward that will allow companies to fully capitalize on data analysis, process automation and the paradigm shifts seen in Sales & Marketing. M&A will continue to play a key role in reshaping the consumer landscape. The leading players will act proactively in this regard.

Supply and sales channels are turning more digital and more global by the day. Consumers’ purchasing decisions are increasingly informed by internet research and subsequent purchases are often made directly online. The transparency and comparability brought about by e-commerce has turned consumers into a price-sensitive clientele with high expectations. Well-positioned companies capitalize on these factors by consistently and continuously communicating their value proposition and by making use of new digital touchpoints in doing so. Anticipated M&A activity for Retail & Leisure thus remains on a high level.

The construction sector remains a driving force of the Swiss economy. However, with many players in the market competition is high, and megatrends such as demographic change, sustainability, urbanization and digitalization keep the sector on its toes. Numerous companies meet these challenges through process automation, strategic realignment, and mergers/acquisitions.

Successful tech companies excel at generating highly specific, proprietary know-how whilst cultivating strong ties to stakeholders within a global ecosystem; all with the goal of upending traditional business models. The challenge for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) is to anticipate market disruptions and reposition themselves accordingly. As an “entry tricket” to secure their own future, SMEs often resolve upon acquiring digital competitors and their know-how. However, valuation of tech companies is an art of its own that hardly complies with conventional wisdom and methods.

Due to political polarization, the increasingly digitalized and internationalized media landscape, in its role as the Fourth Estate, has found itself subject to a crisis of confidence. As a response to these challenges, innovative media companies have started to diversify their offering through novel elements such as streaming, online platforms, social media, and interactive content. The number of transactions in the Media, Marketing & Entertainment space has been on the rise; a trend that is set to continue going forward.