Mike Ashley’s Frasers Group is pressing ahead with its pursuit of Hugo Boss despite challenging conditions across Europe’s consumer sector. Although its €38-a-share takeover bid for the German luxury brand lapsed in mid-August, British retailer Frasers has continued building its stake to 48%, and is now the single largest shareholder in the company. Frasers aims to keep growing its stake to more than 50%.

The Hugo Boss pursuit reflects a broader trend across the consumer sector. While consumer confidence remains below long-term averages and inflation continues to weigh on spending, dealmakers are still finding compelling opportunities in brands, product categories, and businesses that fit long-term strategic objectives.

Consumer is not the most obvious destination for M&A investment in the current environment, but activity levels tell a different story. The Deal Drivers: EMEA HY 2026 heat chart tracks 425 “for sale” consumer businesses, giving the sector one of the deepest deal pipelines in EMEA; only industrials and chemicals and TMT have deeper pipelines of prospective deals. Consumer also produced the region’s largest transaction in the first half of 2026: McCormick’s €37.14 billion combination with Unilever’s food business.

Portfolio refinement and realignment

Behind many of the sector’s largest transactions is a focus on portfolio optimization rather than aggressive expansion.

This theme has been particularly evident in food and drink. Unilever’s divestiture of its food business to McCormick supports its strategy of becoming a pure-play health, home, and personal care company, while for McCormick the deal aligns with its strategy to focus on flavor and grow its portfolio of herbs, spices, seasonings, cooking aids, condiments, and sauces.

Similarly, UK-listed food ingredients group Tate & Lyle agreed to a £2.7 billion takeover by US peer Ingredion, in a deal designed to build economies of scale in category that is resilient, but where growth has been subdued.

Private equity firms have seen opportunity in food ingredients too, with CVC acquiring Italian dessert and bakery ingredients maker IRCA from Advent International and buying the food and ingredients division of International Flavors & Fragrances (IFF) for US$4.3 billion. The deals position CVC as a player of scale in the global food ingredients industry, which has resilient revenue streams and presents opportunities for consolidation and growth through M&A.

Strategic expansion

Alongside portfolio reshaping, dealmakers are using acquisitions to gain access to brands, new customer segments, and attractive categories.

Frasers Group’s pursuit of Hugo Boss is just one example. Frasers, which has a strong portfolio of streetwear and sports brands, wants to expand into the luxury sector, and in addition to pursuing Hugo Boss, has also acquired London-based department store Harvey Nichols out of administration for £40 million, and built stakes in British brands Burberry and Mulberry.

Well-known consumer brands that have fallen into administration have presented opportunities for other buyers, too. New York-based brewer and cannabis producer Tilray Brands, for example, paid £33 million to acquire UK craft beer company BrewDog’s intellectual property rights, online business, 11 pubs, and Aberdeenshire brewery in a pre-pack administration.

Tilray has been focused on expanding its global craft beer portfolio, which has become a bigger part of its business than its original cannabis operations, and the BrewDog deal will add another well-known craft beer brand to its portfolio.

Even in a tough market for consumer businesses, differentiated brands with loyal customer bases remain highly sought after. Consumer may not be the easiest sector to navigate, but for dealmakers that know what they are looking for, M&A opportunities may be back in fashion.