the serial acquirer
Market Observatory · 2026-Q3
The acquirers, one by one
Every tracked buyer with its disclosed prices, capital deployed, debt and — where the inputs hold — an estimated cost of capital.
13 European software serial acquirers are tracked; 12 have enough on file for a page. Together they account for 33 disclosed acquisition prices, 0.53x to 13.95x the acquired company’s annual revenue, and 44 more acquisitions that disclose no usable price at all. Sorted by capital deployed in the latest year on file; every figure is read from a filed account.
| Buyer | Prices on file | Median paid | Range | Capital deployed EUR m | Acquisitions | Year | Interest as % of revenue |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bending Spoons S.p.A. | 5 | 2.10x | 1.08x–3.26x | 1’733.7 | 3 | 2026 | 12.1% |
| Constellation Software | — | — | — | 1’429.6 | — | 2025 | 1.8% |
| Visma | 4 | 6.04x | 4.22x–6.70x | 967.2 | 28 | 2025 | 6.9% |
| The Access Group | 5 | 5.46x | 4.02x–7.83x | 696.6 | 9 | 2025 | — |
| TeamSystem | 4 | 6.82x | 3.14x–13.95x | 624.5 | 22 | 2025 | 13.1% |
| Topicus.com | 1 | 2.08x | — | 390.4 | 1 | 2025 | — |
| Hawk Infinity AS | 5 | 2.27x | 0.53x–7.68x | 159.2 | 14 | 2024 | 18.0% |
| Chapters Group AG | — | — | — | 119.7 | — | 2025 | 8.0% |
| Everfield | 4 | 1.72x | 1.33x–2.11x | 117.2 | 16 | 2024 | 17.9% |
| Banyan Software UK | 1 | 2.36x | — | 50.4 | 5 | 2025 | — |
| ClearCourse | 1 | 2.63x | — | 35.7 | 5 | 2024 | — |
| Software Circle plc | 3 | 2.10x | 1.18x–3.92x | 14.1 | 2 | 2026 | 4.3% |
What this does not support
- 33 observations from 10 buyers is not a market. The sample is the buyers who disclose enough — and there is no reason to assume that is unrelated to what they pay.
- A buyer’s median is not its policy. Only 6 of the 12 have four or more prices on file; below that the median is the middle of a couple of points.
The rest of the register
Guess what serial acquirers paid →What European software serial acquirers actually pay, from filed accounts. Guess the price, then see the source.
What was paid, per unit of revenue →Every disclosed acquisition price in the register, one row per observation, coloured by how well it is evidenced.
The acquirers, one by one →Every tracked buyer with its prices, capital deployed, debt and what its capital costs.
Every deal on file →One page per disclosed acquisition, with the filed source and where its price sits in the register.
How much they deploy →How much capital each European software serial acquirer actually puts to work, and across how many acquisitions.
What they owe, and what it costs →Net debt against revenue, the interest each buyer actually pays, and every credit facility on file with its terms.
What their own capital costs →An estimate of what each buyer pays for capital, set against the 20-30% return they demand of the companies they buy.
Method, limits and imprint →How every figure in this register is sourced, what the sample does not support, and the legal notices.
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