Total disclosed M&A deal value reached $13.7 billion in 2025, tied for the second highest annual performance since 2016. Buyers preferred to keep their M&A strategies private as only 13% of deals announced their transaction values.

Let’s start our analysis by looking at dealmaking activity in the Blue-Collar Software sector in 2025, which was robust with 322 transactions seen. That represents a new 10-year high and a 27% increase compared to 2024 levels. Transaction volumes have been on a powerful upward trend since 2022 as toolbelt industries continue to digitize. Financial and strategic buyers were eager to pursue acquisitions in this space as PE firms were the buyers in 31% of these transactions.

Looking at the top acquirers of Blue-Collar Software firms in 2025, buy-and-hold company Constellation Software topped the list with five deals, followed by another buy-and-hold company Banyan Software, which made four deals. Strategic acquirers including Bestpass by Fleetworthy and Fidus Global made three and two deals, respectively, while Main Capital Partners and Advent International both made three deals while EQT and Hg made two transactions each.

VC funding for Blue-Collar Software firms peaked in 2021 and have remained volatile ever since, as have deal volumes which peaked in 2022. The median VC investment was $5.2 million, well below the median disclosed M&A transaction value of $21 million. Uncertainty over VC investments and the substantial difference between VC funding levels and disclosed M&A transaction sizes are encouraging companies to instead pursue M&A strategies for growth and liquidity.