Power Engineering & Transmission

The average Swiss Power Engineering & Transmission company is valued at 4.5 - 6.5× EBITDA on a statutory (tax-based) basis and 6.0 - 8.5× EBITDA in actual deal transactions. The spread between statutory and deal multiples represents a key arbitrage opportunity for informed buyers. The current market trend is stable, with an arbitrage gap rated as medium. Actual valuations depend heavily on recurring revenue share, customer diversification, management depth, and equipment modernity.

Key valuation drivers include: The strongest export line in the Swiss tech industry. Electrical machinery, electrical appliances and other electrical goods grew 5.5% in H1 2026 against total tech exports of 1.7%, machinery at -2.1% and precision instruments at -3.0%; Swissmem names industrial electrical engineering and energy solutions as one of the few sub-sectors actually driving the recovery, on demand from data centres and AI applications. Factors that can compress valuations include: Headcount has fallen by a quarter. NOGA division 27 employed 27,437 people in STATENT 2024 against 36,099 in 2012 — a 24.0% fall, steeper than machinery, metal products or plastics — while the establishment count barely moved, from 905 to 851; Margins are deteriorating sector-wide. Swissmem reports that a quarter of tech industry companies post negative EBIT margins and a further 29% barely cover their cost of capital and R&D spending. Deal multiples typically range from 6.0 - 8.5× EBITDA, but actual prices vary significantly based on customer concentration, management quality, revenue predictability, and geographic reach within Switzerland's 26 cantons.

There is no official count of Swiss power engineering companies, and the roughly 1,800 firms commonly cited — including in the February 2026 edition of this report — is an estimate spanning several NOGA divisions rather than a measurement. Power engineering has no code of its own: the electrical-equipment core sits in NOGA division 27, while turbine, generator and hydropower equipment builders are classified under machinery (28), and the BFS publishes STATENT only at division level. What is measured is division 27, and it tells the defining story of this niche. BFS STATENT 2024, published 20 August 2026, records 851 establishments and 27,437 employees, against 853 and 28,420 in 2022 and 905 and 36,099 in 2012. The establishment count barely moved in twelve years while employment fell 24.0% — steeper than machinery (-1.1%), metal products (-7.4%) or rubber and plastics (-12.9%). Over the same period exports rose: Swissmem reported electrical machinery, electrical appliances and other electrical goods up 5.5% in the first half of 2026, the strongest product group in the Swiss tech industry after transport equipment. Roughly the same number of firms, a quarter fewer people, more output. The commercial register is the reliable check on any individual name, and here it is decisive: it confirms Hitachi Energy AG in Zurich (not Baden), ABB Schweiz AG in Baden, GE Vernova (Switzerland) GmbH in Baden with a branch in Birr, ANDRITZ HYDRO AG in Kriens (LU), Von Roll Insulation & Composites Holding AG in Breitenbach (SO), Weidmann Electrical Technology AG in Rapperswil-Jona (SG), Cellpack Power Systems AG in Villmergen (AG) and Maag Pump Systems AG in Oberglatt (ZH) — while showing no Swiss entry at all for Wikov Schweiz AG, Flender (Schweiz) AG or SEW-Eurodrive (Schweiz) AG.

Succession in Swiss power engineering is being decided in a niche that is growing its exports and shrinking its workforce at the same time. BFS STATENT 2024, published 20 August 2026, records 27,437 people employed in NOGA division 27 — manufacture of electrical equipment — against 36,099 in 2012, a 24.0% fall, while the establishment count moved only from 905 to 851. Over the same window Swissmem reports electrical machinery exports up 5.5% in the first half of 2026, the strongest product group in the tech industry after transport equipment. The businesses that survived did so by raising output per employee, and that is what a buyer is acquiring: not headcount, but the process knowledge and qualifications that let a smaller team ship more. Two things make that transfer harder here than in most niches. The first is certification. High-voltage type tests, IEC and customer qualifications, weld and winding procedure approvals, and the audit history behind them are held in practice by named engineers, and an owner who cannot say who holds what is selling a discount into the process. The second is margin. Swissmem reports that EBIT margins deteriorated across almost the entire tech industry in the year to August 2026, with a quarter of companies posting negative EBIT margins and a further 29% barely covering their cost of capital and R&D — so a strong export line does not, on its own, support a strong multiple, and a buyer will look straight past revenue growth to the margin trend. The tariff position sharpens the point: since the end of July 2026 the US applies 12.5% to Swiss tech goods, 2.5 percentage points above the EU rate. Owners preparing an exit should document the qualification file as carefully as the accounts, name the individuals the approvals depend on, separate recurring service and spares revenue from project revenue, and allow two to three years of overlap. Deal multiples for the sector typically run 6.0 - 8.5× EBITDA.

Four trends define the sector in 2026: (1) Electrical machinery is the strongest export line in the Swiss tech industry — Swissmem's half-year release of 23 August 2026 reported total tech exports of CHF 34.5 billion, up 1.7%, with electrical machinery, electrical appliances and other electrical goods up 5.5% — the strongest product group after transport equipment, against machinery at -2.1% and measuring and precision instruments at -3.0%. (2) Output is rising while the workforce shrinks by a quarter — BFS STATENT 2024, published 20 August 2026, records 27,437 people employed in NOGA division 27 — manufacture of electrical equipment — against 28,420 in 2022 and 36,099 in 2012. (3) Margins are deteriorating even where exports are growing — Swissmem reports that EBIT margins have deteriorated across almost the entire tech industry over the past year: a quarter of companies post negative EBIT margins, and a further 29% barely generate enough to cover their cost of capital and R&D spending. (4) The register overturns most of the old player list and restores two major omissions — Four names carried in earlier editions of this report have no Swiss commercial register entry at all: Wikov Schweiz AG, Flender (Schweiz) AG, SEW-Eurodrive (Schweiz) AG and the "Bühler Group (Drive Solutions)" division.

The principal acquisition risks are: (1) US tariff escalation through 2025-2026 — 39% in August 2025, capped at 15% in November 2025, Section 232 steel, aluminium and copper duties of 10-50% from April 2026, and 12.5% on tech goods since the end of July 2026 — falls on a sector whose inputs are copper, steel and specialty alloys; (2) A Swissmem survey found that at a 5-percentage-point tariff gap to the EU, US business would be seriously jeopardised for almost half of member companies; at 7.5 points the share rises to 58%; (3) Franc strength against German, Italian and Chinese equipment builders competing for the same grid and generation projects with lower cost bases. Buyers should conduct thorough due diligence on customer concentration, regulatory compliance, and key-person dependencies. Deal multiples of 6.0 - 8.5× EBITDA may be discounted for firms with elevated risk profiles.

The typical cost breakdown for a Swiss Power Engineering & Transmission firm is: Raw Materials (copper, electrical steel, insulation): 28%, Personnel Costs: 35%, Equipment Depreciation & Tooling: 12%, Energy & Utilities: 6%, R&D and Engineering: 8%, Other Operating Costs: 3%, Profit Margin (EBITDA): 8%. Indicative split for a Swiss power engineering business. Materials dominate and are exactly the inputs the US tariff escalation of 2025-2026 has repriced — 39% in August 2025, capped at 15% in November 2025, Section 232 copper, steel and aluminium duties of 10-50% from April 2026, and 12.5% on tech goods since the end of July 2026, 2.5 percentage points above the EU rate. Copper is not substitutable in a transformer or a generator. Engineering and type-test costs carry a larger share than in general machinery because each grid or generation project is qualified individually. Swissmem reported electrical machinery exports up 5.5% in H1 2026 against total tech exports of +1.7%, with capacity utilisation of 81.1% in Q2 2026 against a long-run average of 85.6% (2015-2025), while BFS STATENT 2024 shows NOGA division 27 employment down 24.0% since 2012. These benchmarks are important for buyers assessing operational efficiency and margin improvement potential post-acquisition.

Switzerland's main Power Engineering & Transmission clusters are: (1) Baden and the Aargau power corridor (AG) — The densest power-engineering cluster in Switzerland and the historic home of the industry. (2) Zurich (ZH) — The grid technology head-office cluster. Hitachi Energy AG and Hitachi Energy Holdings AG are registered in Zurich — not Baden, as earlier editions of this report stated — together with Hitachi Energy Finance AG and Hitachi Energy Participations AG, and ABB Robotics Schweiz AG. (3) Central Switzerland and Lake Geneva (LU, VD) — The hydropower axis. ANDRITZ HYDRO AG is registered in Kriens (LU) and ANDRITZ HYDRO SA in Vevey (VD), a pairing that covers turbines, generators and plant modernisation across both language regions and serves the Swiss hydro fleet as well as export projects. (4) Northwestern and Eastern Switzerland (SO, SG, TI) — Where the insulation is made — the least visible part of the chain and the hardest to substitute. Regional concentration affects valuations, as companies in established clusters benefit from supplier ecosystems, specialized talent pools, and industry networks.