Smart Machinery – Food & Pharma M&A: Resilient Deal Flow and Reset Valuations

Smart Machinery – Food & Pharma M&A 2026 has confirmed the sector’s resilience, with 31 transactions and €5.3bn in disclosed deal value in H1 despite a challenging macroeconomic backdrop. Leading equipment makers reported solid order intake and further profitability gains, while more cyclically exposed peers faced modest demand — yet underlying investment in smart, compliant and efficient production solutions continued. The message is clear: the buyers who know this sector are still buying, and they are buying with purpose.

At MP Corporate Finance, we track M&A activity across the full food & pharma machinery value chain — from processing, sorting and hygienic production lines to filling, inspection, packaging and the automation and digital layers that tie them together. What we observed in the first six months of 2026 was a market led by strategic acquirers, driven by serial consolidators and characterised by a valuation reset that is creating opportunities on both sides of the table.

Food: automation, hygienic design and portfolio reshaping

In the food end-market, automation, hygienic design and energy-efficient equipment remained the investment priorities, with particularly solid momentum in food processing and sorting technologies. Manufacturers are buying capability that helps their customers produce more consistently, more safely and with less energy — and the deal flow reflects that. The combination of Tummers Food Processing Solutions with Kiremko, Idaho Steel and Reyco created a full-line potato and vegetable processing supplier; Fortifi Food Processing Solutions added forming, portioning, coating and frying technologies with Deighton Manufacturing; and Piovan expanded its food machinery portfolio with Aasted, a leading maker of chocolate manufacturing equipment.

Portfolio reshaping is accelerating at the top of the market as well. Middleby’s approved spin-off of Midera Food Processing into a dedicated food processing platform is the clearest signal yet that focused, pure-play machinery businesses are valued more highly by investors than diversified conglomerates — Midera trades at 13.5x EBITDA, ahead of its former parent at 13.0x. Expect this logic to shape further carve-outs and divestments in H2 2026.

Pharma: biologics pipelines keep filling and inspection lines busy

In the pharma end-market, biologics and injectables pipelines continued to drive demand for smart filling, inspection and packaging lines. Regulatory compliance, batch integrity and traceability requirements support sustained equipment spending — and, increasingly, a growing aftermarket of validation, service and upgrade revenue that buyers prize for its predictability.

The transaction of the period was Apollo Global Management’s acquisition of a 37% stake in Syntegon Technology, the leading global manufacturer of processing and packaging machinery for pharma and food, providing a partial exit for CVC. Around it, strategics kept building: IMA Group took a majority stake in ProSys Sampling Systems to expand its biopharma isolator and sampling offering, Sacmi acquired 70% of Velomat to broaden into micro-pumps and medical device assembly, and Automated Industrial Robotics added pharmaceutical and medical device automation capabilities with Kaon Automation.

Strategics lead, serial acquirers set the pace — and sponsors stay selective

Strategic buyers drove more than three quarters of H1 2026 activity (81% of deals), and a handful of serial acquirers accounted for a disproportionate share of it. Pro Mach alone announced three transactions — Evolution Bottling & Packaging Solutions in the UK, Lako Tool & Manufacturing, and the American Holt, DMA Solution and Pride Engineering aftermarket group — while Piovan closed two, Coesia added Rotzinger and Transver, Interroll acquired Royal Apollo Group and CCL Industries moved into shrink-sleeve application machinery with Sleever International. More than half of all deals (58%) were cross-border, with Italian and US consolidators especially active in acquiring European targets, which made up 85% of all deals.

Financial investors were more selective, but far from absent, at 19% of deals. Beyond Apollo’s entry into Syntegon, CVC acquired packaging automation provider CleverTech to support its internationalisation, Everstone Capital bought smart weighing and feeding leader Qlar Group from Blackstone and Hamilton Robinson Capital Partners carved out SWECO. The pattern is consistent: sponsors are backing platforms with clear buy-and-build potential and, on the other side, using this market to realise mature investments.

Digitalisation and the valuation reset

Digital technologies such as AI, machine learning and digital twins moved deeper into series equipment across food & pharma applications in H1 2026, enabling predictive maintenance, real-time process optimisation and automated quality inspection. Crucially, equipment makers are increasingly monetising these capabilities through service-based models — turning one-off machine sales into recurring revenue streams that buyers reward in valuation.

At the same time, public market valuations have reset. The median TEV/EBITDA multiple of our 20-company Smart Machinery – Food & Pharma peer group eased to 9.6x in Q2 2026, well below the over-the-cycle median of around 11.8x, while the median EBITDA margin strengthened to 12.3% (from 12.0% a year earlier). Profitability is holding; it is the multiple that has moved. The spread within the peer group is wide — from Krones at 5.7x and Bucher Industries at 8.3x to GEA at 12.1x and JBT Marel and ATS Corporation at 14.7x — and it rewards focused, higher-margin, aftermarket-rich business models over cyclically exposed volume players.

Smart Machinery – Food & Pharma M&A 2026: outlook for owners and buyers

The outlook for H2 2026 is constructive. With below-average multiples, moderate leverage across the peer group and continued strategic appetite, we expect further consolidation in the sector through the second half of the year. The structural drivers — automation and hygienic design in food, biologics-driven demand for filling and inspection in pharma, and the digitalisation of series equipment — are not fading, and the buyer universe that has formed around them is deep and motivated.

For owners considering their options, the current environment rewards preparation. Buyers are specific about what they want: a defensible position in a process step, a growing aftermarket and service business, and a credible digital roadmap. Businesses that can demonstrate these attributes are commanding premiums well above the peer-group median — and the gap between those that can and those that cannot is widening.

If you would like to discuss what the current M&A environment means for your business, we would be happy to share our perspective.