The year 2018 is progressing well for VWG Corporate Finance. Our team has already been able to successfully complete eight transactions in this first six months. Among these transactions were two purchase transactions of foreign players for Novio Packaging, a sales process of jam producer Geurts to French multinational Andros Group and a sales process for full-service internet agency Roquin. In the second half of 2018, we also expect to announce a number of compelling transactions. Acquisition market conditions are exceptionally good.
Figures from takeover platform Brookz show that within the current takeover market, there is more demand for companies than supply in all sectors. This benefits the multiples charged - these have risen again further that benefits the selling price.
The average applied EBITDA multiple in Dutch SMEs in the past six months was 4.95. Despite the fact that across the board multiples increased compared to the second half of 2017, the level of the applied multiple varies greatly by industry. For instance, with an average multiple of 6.2, the highest multiple was applied within the IT & Online sector. For deals within retail, on the other hand, the multiple was (only) 3.65.
In the first half of 2018, by far the most transactions took place within business services. This sector accounted for 22% of all transactions. Other sectors where relatively many transactions took place were IT & Online (15%) and Industry and Manufacturing (14%). Companies in the latter two sectors also saw the most interest. On average, there were nine interested buyers per company offered for sale here. In addition, interest also continued to increase for companies in all other sectors.