Pitcher Partners is pleased to present its 12th annual Deal Pulse, titled “Stay and play”, highlighting Queensland’s Merger & Acquisition (M&A) activity for calendar year 2025.
Queensland recorded 264 transactions, marginally down from 272 deals in the prior year. Whilst volumes softened slightly, activity remained resilient and was anchored by industries supporting Queensland’s rapidly growing population, particularly assets linked to where people live, stay and play.
Consistent deal flow was observed across accommodation, leisure, healthcare and technology‑enabled services, reflecting long‑term demographic trends and continued investor confidence in Queensland‑based businesses.
Key market trends:
- Accommodation‑led real estate demand: Student accommodation, retirement living, regional holiday parks and workforce accommodation continued to attract strategic and financial buyers.
- Record inbound activity: International acquirers completed 67 acquisitions, the highest level recorded across the 12 years of Deal Pulse, highlighting strong global appetite for Queensland assets.
- Private equity lifts activity: Private equity completed 15 direct acquisitions, the highest level since 2020, with strongest interest in Consumer and TMT assets.
The largest transaction of the year was the acquisition of National Storage REIT, valued at $9.3 billion, reinforcing international demand for scalable, income‑producing real estate assets.
Sector performance highlights:
- Technology, Media and Telecommunications: most active sector, with sustained consolidation across application software, cloud infrastructure, cybersecurity and data‑driven platforms. Buyers remained focused on scalable capability‑led acquisitions.
- Leisure: M&A rebounded strongly, driven by pubs, hotels and tourism assets benefiting from domestic travel demand, regional population growth and renewed confidence in community‑focused venues.
- Pharma, medical and biotech: deal volumes increased to 20 transactions, reflecting strong activity across day hospitals, medical imaging, healthcare distribution and tech‑enabled care models aligned to population growth corridors.
- Real estate: recorded its highest level of activity since 2018, driven by accommodation‑linked assets, retirement living portfolios and storage facilities responding to Queensland’s population and housing dynamics.
Queensland’s M&A market enters 2026 with solid foundations. Whilst conditions remain selective, population growth, infrastructure investment and sustained international interest continue to support transaction activity across key sectors. The outlook is underpinned by a market environment that is actively building the physical and commercial foundations for Queensland’s next phase of growth, setting the stage for renewed deal momentum.
