Through Q1 2026 North American M&A volume totaled 3,780 transactions with total deal value of $936 billion.
Within the Specialty Distribution sector, there were 87 transactions in Q1 2026, compared to 65 transactions in Q1 2025, representing a 33.9% increase from last year.
Public Company Performance
Public company EV/EBITDA multiples in Q1 2026 remain unchanged from last quarter with a median specialty distribution multiple of 10.3x. The median EV/EBITDA multiple in Q1 2025 was 10.2x.
After Q1 2026, half of the specialty distribution sub-sectors (Automotive, Healthcare, and Industrials) outperformed the S&P 500 over the past five years.
