Blog · Published 2026-11-05
What M&A advisers charge in 2024/25: fees for small and mid-sized deals.
Short answer
In the Firmex M&A Fee Guide 2024/25, the engagement letter built from the most common European answers has a work fee of $5,000 to $10,000 a month on top of a success fee, and a success fee that falls as the deal grows: 4.3% for a $5 million deal, 3.0% for $20 million and 1.7% for $100 million. The global and DACH reports differ in places, and the table below puts them side by side. These are survey answers from advisers, not a price list.
Where the numbers come from
Source for every figure on this page: Firmex M&A Fee Guide 2024/25 (Europe, Global and DACH reports, published with DEALCIRCLE; the publisher is Firmex). Amounts are in US dollars as the reports give them. The reports summarize an adviser survey (456 responses worldwide, 289 from Europe, 202 from the DACH region, collected in December 2024 and January 2025). They describe what advisers say they charge, not a quote for your deal.
Most of the advisers surveyed mainly act for sellers: 64% in the Europe and Global reports and 68% in the DACH report. So these are mostly the fees a seller pays. They matter to a buyer because they shape how the other side runs a process; see what the adviser charges the seller and what it means for you.
At a glance: Europe, global and DACH
Each cell is the figure the report states for 2024. Where a report states no figure in its text, the cell says so.
| Item | Europe | Global | DACH |
|---|---|---|---|
| Most common monthly work fee | $5,000 to $10,000 | $5,000 to $10,000 | $5,000 to $10,000 |
| Firms charging $16,000 or more a month | 17% (doubled) | 16% (doubled) | 13% (from 10%) |
| Firms with a fixed fee charging more than $26,000 | 31% (from 21%) | 38% (from 26%) | 27% (from 18%) |
| Success fee, $5 million deal (most common) | 4.3% | 4.8% | 4.5% |
| Success fee, $20 million deal | 3.0% | 3.4% | 3.1% |
| Success fee, $100 million deal | 1.7% | 2.0% | 1.8% |
| Work fee deducted from the success fee | 49% of firms | 57% of firms | 52% of firms |
| Full success fee due at closing, even if the seller is paid later | 51% of firms | 53% of firms | 50% of firms |
| Travel reimbursed by the client | 74% of firms | 68% of firms | 71% of firms |
| Virtual data room reimbursed by the client | 64% of firms | 48% of firms | 65% of firms |
| Break-up fee if the client rejects a bona fide offer | 35% of firms | 28% of firms | 36% of firms |
One real difference in the "most common" letter
Each report builds an engagement letter from the most common answers. The Europe and DACH letters have the monthly work fee in addition to the success fee. The Global letter has the monthly work fee deducted from the success fee. The survey figures above point the same way: 57% of firms worldwide deduct work fees from the success fee, against 49% in Europe and 52% in the DACH region.
The DACH report adds a note on direction. Fewer DACH firms agreed to this deduction than the year before, while the global number rose.
Work fees: how they are charged
A work fee (also called an engagement fee or retainer) is paid while the adviser prepares and runs the sale, whether or not it closes. The reports give three reasons advisers charge one: to cover running costs, to be paid for deals that are delayed or do not close, and to check that the client is serious about selling.
| Structure | Europe | Global | DACH |
|---|---|---|---|
| Monthly fee | 31% | 30% | 36% |
| Fixed (lump sum) fee | 25% | 28% | 21% |
| Milestone-based fee | 15% | 13% | 14% |
| Hourly fee | not stated in the text | 9% | not stated in the text |
| No work fee, success fee only | 12% | North America 19%, Europe 12% | 11% |
Milestone fees
The reports do not reduce milestone fees to one price. Advisers who use them most commonly describe three or four milestones, with examples from two to nine. The milestones named most often are starting the engagement, completing the marketing materials, receiving indications of interest, signing letters of intent and closing. One adviser quoted in the Global report describes a retainer after the final CIM (Confidential Information Memorandum) is agreed and another milestone fee at the LOI, each in the range of $5,000 to $10,000, credited when the deal closes.
Success fees by deal size
The success fee is paid when the deal completes and is where advisers earn most of their revenue. The reports ask advisers for the most common effective fee at each deal size. All three reports found that the formula used (Lehman, accelerator or flat) had very little effect on the effective fee at a given deal size; the formulas are explained in the Lehman formula with current numbers.
| Deal size | Europe | Global | DACH |
|---|---|---|---|
| $5 million | 4.3% | 4.8% | 4.5% |
| $10 million | 3.6% | 4.0% | 3.7% |
| $20 million | 3.0% | 3.4% | 3.1% |
| $50 million | 2.3% | 2.7% | 2.3% |
| $100 million | 1.7% | 2.0% | 1.8% |
| $150 million | 1.6% | 1.9% | 1.6% |
Reading that table
- The $5 million, $20 million, $100 million and $150 million rows are stated in the reports' text. The $10 million and $50 million rows are the labels printed on the reports' charts.
- The reports start at $5 million. They give no figure for smaller deals, so do not read the $5 million row as a floor for a smaller business.
- The Global report says European success fees were lower than North American ones, by 1.1 percentage points for smaller deals down to 0.4 for the largest.
- In Europe and the DACH region the success fee fell in 2024, most for smaller deals. Globally it fell for smaller deals and held for larger ones.
- The DACH report's text gives its amounts in US dollars while its chart labels show a euro sign. We quote the text.
Minimum fees, break-up fees and expenses
Minimum success fee: the Europe report says more than three-quarters of firms write one into the engagement agreement (78% in its chart), and the DACH report says the same. The Global report's text says only about one quarter, while its chart shows a 76% to 24% split, so we do not quote a global figure.
Break-up fee: some advisers charge the client if it rejects an offer that met its initial request. That is 35% of firms in Europe, 28% globally and 36% in the DACH region.
Expenses: in Europe and in the DACH region more than four-fifths of firms are reimbursed for at least some expenses. Travel is the most commonly passed on, then the virtual data room (table above). Globally, 24% of firms said they are reimbursed for nothing, down from 29% in 2023.
What changed in 2024, and what advisers expect
Fewer advisers raised fees in 2024: 39% raised at least one fee in Europe (59% the year before), 34% globally (47%) and 37% in the DACH region (60%). For 2025, 40% of European advisers said they would raise fees, 37% globally and 39% in the DACH region. Roughly half of advisers in all three reports said their fees are not negotiable.
What this means for a small-business buyer
- If you are buying, the seller usually pays these fees. The costs that can reach you are indirect: a seller who pays a monthly work fee has a reason to keep the process moving, and a data room the seller pays for is one the seller may want to close down on time.
- If you hire your own buy-side adviser, ask for the structure in writing: work fee, success fee, minimum, what is credited, and who pays expenses. Among advisers who mainly serve buyers, the share charging no success fee is 29% in Europe, 20% globally and 24% in the DACH region.
- Treat the table as a benchmark for a conversation, not as a quote. The reports cover the middle market, and your deal may be smaller.
Where Deal OS fits
Deal OS does not set, negotiate or advise on adviser fees. What it does is the buyer's side of the work: it reads a CIM (Confidential Information Memorandum) and the data room, reports where the documents disagree, and cites the page for every finding. You can run your first CIM check free with the CIM Pass, or see a finished brief in the sandbox.
Questions
Frequently asked questions.
What is a typical M&A adviser work fee?
In the Firmex M&A Fee Guide 2024/25 the most common monthly work fee, in Europe, globally and in the DACH region, is $5,000 to $10,000. In Europe 17% of firms charge $16,000 or more a month.
What success fee do advisers charge on a $5 million deal?
The most common effective success fee reported for a $5 million deal is 4.3% in Europe, 4.8% globally and 4.5% in the DACH region. The reports give no figure for deals below $5 million.
Who pays for travel and the data room?
Usually the client. Travel is reimbursed by 74% of firms in Europe, 68% globally and 71% in the DACH region; the virtual data room by 64%, 48% and 65% respectively.
Are the Europe, global and DACH numbers different?
Yes. Success fees are lower in Europe and the DACH region than globally at every deal size shown, and the global letter deducts the work fee from the success fee while the Europe and DACH letters add it on top. Monthly work fees are in the same $5,000 to $10,000 band in all three.
Keep reading
- Buyer deal-readiness one-pager (free, built in your browser) (the full guide)
- The Lehman formula explained with current numbers
- Buying a business: what the adviser charges the seller and what it means for you as the buyer
- Getting on an M&A adviser's shortlist: a buyer's checklist
- Short answers to buyers' questions
