According to the Oaklins M&A Outlook 2026, sentiment among Swiss companies has improved slightly since the beginning of the year but remains at a low level. Only 15 percent of respondents expect economic conditions to be good or rather good over the next twelve months. In January, this figure stood at just 6 percent.
The financing environment also remains challenging. Forty percent of respondents consider the availability of debt financing to be high or rather high, while only 31 percent rate the availability of cash in the same way – a historic low.
«The volatile economic environment is increasingly affecting the financial strength of many companies,» said Jürg Stucker, author of the study and partner at Oaklins Switzerland. «In the current environment, many companies are focused on their own operations. The priority is cost savings, restructuring and portfolio optimisation.»
The willingness to sell business interests is also declining. Seventy-three percent of respondents point to falling or stable valuation multiples. Potential sellers are therefore likely to wait, which could further slow activity in the M&A market. Only 17 percent of respondents consider the sale of business units a viable option, compared with 37 percent at the beginning of the year.
