Global buyout deal value excluding add-ons rose 44% in 2025 to $904 billion, according to Bain & Company. Exit value climbed 47% to $717 billion, and both totals were the second highest on record. Just 13 megadeals of $10 billion or more supplied $274 billion, or 30%, of that deal total, so these private equity market statistics show a narrower rebound than the headline suggests.
The industry still holds 32,000 unsold companies worth $3.8 trillion, and distributions to investors have stayed below 15% of net asset value for four consecutive years. The momentum faded in 2026: EY counted a 10% drop in global private equity acquisitions in the first half, with tech deal value down 50%. The figures below track deal value, exits, fundraising, fund assets, selected large firms and investor sentiment, drawn from Bain, EY, McKinsey, Invest Europe, the SEC and company filings.
Key Takeaways
- Outside the megadeal segment, buyout deal value grew 16% in 2025, against 44% for all buyouts excluding add-ons.
- Secondaries transaction value grew 41% in 2025, and GP-led continuation vehicles grew 62%.
- Closed-end private equity fundraising fell 17% in 2025 to approximately $616 billion, according to McKinsey.
- Non-tech deal value rose 9% in the first half of 2026 while tech deal value fell 50%.
- Bain estimates typical deals now need around 10% to 12% annual EBITDA growth to earn a 2.5X return over five years.
- EY found 72% of general partners expect deployment to increase over the next six months.
Editor’s Choice
- Buyout deal value excluding add-ons, 2025: $904 billion, up 44% year on year.
- Buyout-backed exit value, 2025: $717 billion, up 47%.
- Global buyout dry powder: $1.3 trillion.
- Private equity fund gross assets on Form PF: $7,958 billion in the third quarter of 2025.
- Blackstone assets under management: $1,346.3 billion at the end of Q2 2026.
- European private equity and venture fundraising, 2025: €147 billion.
Private Equity Market Statistics: Buyout Deal Value
These figures are compiled from 14 sources: 5 regulator filings and company earnings releases, and 9 industry reports and association datasets. The sources were published between January 2026 and August 2026. Only data from these publishers, or data they cite from a named source, qualified, and the figures are updated when those publishers release new editions.
- Global buyout deal value excluding add-ons reached $904 billion in 2025, up 44% year on year.
- The $56.6 billion take-private of Electronic Arts set a new all-time buyout record.
- The third quarter of 2025 was the strongest quarter on record, with $301 billion of deal value.
- The number of buyout deals fell 6% to 3,018 transactions, while the average disclosed deal size hit a record $1.2 billion.
- Just 13 megadeals in the $10 billion-plus bracket accounted for $274 billion, and 11 of them were in the US.
- Other megadeals included Aligned Data Centers at $40 billion, Air Lease at $27.5 billion, and Walgreens Boots Alliance at $23.7 billion.
- EY’s count puts 2025 private equity deal value growth at 57%, with 13 mega deals announced, the highest on record.
| Metric | 2025 value |
|---|---|
| Global buyout deal value (excluding add-ons) | $904 billion |
| Year-on-year change | 44% |
| Number of buyout deals | 3,018 |
| Average disclosed deal size | $1.2 billion |
| Q3 2025 deal value | $301 billion |
| Value from 13 deals of $10 billion or more | $274 billion |
| Global buyout-backed exit value | $717 billion |
Source: Bain & Company Global Private Equity Report 2026
The two scorecards disagree on growth: Bain excludes add-on deals, and EY counts total private equity deal value, so the methods are kept separate rather than averaged. Strip out the megadeals, and the growth rate looks very different.
Private Equity Deal Value Growth by Deal Size
- Excluding the $10 billion-plus segment, deal value grew 16% year over year in 2025.
- Deals in the $1 billion to $5 billion range grew 29%.
- Deals sized between $5 billion and the megadeal threshold grew only 6%.
- North America added 80% of the growth in total deal value.
- Once deals above $10 billion are removed, Europe’s contribution to growth was comparable to North America’s.
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The 28-point gap between headline growth and growth outside the megadeal bracket is the clearest measure of how concentrated the 2025 recovery was.
Recent Developments
- July 23, 2026: Blackstone reported total assets under management of $1,346.3 billion and second-quarter inflows of $68.3 billion.
- July 28, 2026: EY’s Q2 2026 Private Equity Pulse found global acquisitions fell 10% in the first half, while aggregate deal value stayed roughly flat.
- July 30, 2026: KKR reported assets under management of $796 billion, up 16% year over year.
- August 4, 2026: Apollo reported approximately $1.05 trillion of assets under management as of June 30, 2026.
- August 5, 2026: Carlyle reported $485 billion of assets under management and said it distributed nearly $7 billion to clients during the quarter.
Private Equity Exit Statistics
- Global buyout-backed exit value rose 47% to $717 billion in 2025.
- Seven mega-exits added $155 billion, or 22%, of that total.
- The number of exits fell 2% to 1,570, roughly the level seen just before the Covid-19 pandemic.
- Exit value outside the mega-exits still grew 34%.
- Sponsor-to-strategic exit value rose 66%, with 73% growth in North America and 82% in Europe.
- Continuation vehicles grew 62% in 2025 but still account for less than 10% of total exit value.
- EY’s count shows total exit value climbing more than 50% in 2025.
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The IPO statistics cover the public-listing route separately.
Key finding: Bain found that sales to corporate buyers regained importance in 2025, with sponsor-to-strategic exit value up 66% year on year. That ties the exit cycle, and the cash it returns to investors, more closely to the health of strategic M&A budgets.
Private Equity Fundraising Statistics by Region
- McKinsey puts global closed-end private equity fundraising at approximately $616 billion in 2025, down 17%.
- North American closed-end fundraising rose 8% to $432 billion.
- European fundraising fell 41% to $118 billion, largely because big buyout funds had closed in 2023 and 2024.
- Asia-Pacific fundraising fell 49% to $49 billion.
- Fundraising into US semiliquid private equity vehicles more than doubled since 2023 to $204 billion in 2025, according to Robert A. Stanger & Company.
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Is private equity fundraising down?
Yes, for buyout funds: Bain found buyout fundraising dropped 16% to $395 billion in 2025, while private capital overall raised $1.3 trillion, about even with 2024. The number of funds closed fell 18% for the industry and 23% for buyout.
Dry Powder, Unsold Assets and Liquidity
- Global buyout dry powder sits at $1.3 trillion, with most of it raised in 2022 to 2023 fund vintages.
- That backlog equals about 5.3 years of exits at the 2025 pace of $717 billion.
- Distributions to investors as a share of net asset value have stayed below 15% for four consecutive years, an industry record.
- Secondaries transaction value from GP-led and LP-led vehicles grew 41% in 2025.
| Liquidity measure | Value |
|---|---|
| Global buyout dry powder | $1.3 trillion |
| Unsold companies in private equity portfolios | 32,000 |
| Value of unsold companies | $3.8 trillion |
| Buyout holding period at exit | Around seven years |
| Distributions as a share of NAV | Below 15% for four consecutive years |
Source: Bain & Company Global Private Equity Report 2026
Why it matters: Bain identifies lagging distributions to limited partners as the main driver of a slow and difficult fundraising slog. Until exits outpace the $3.8 trillion backlog, investors receive less cash to recommit, so fundraising stays tight even in a strong deal year like 2025.
Private Equity Fund Assets Reported to the SEC
- Private equity funds reported on Form PF held $7,958 billion in gross assets in the third quarter of 2025.
- Their net asset value reached $7,293 billion in the same quarter.
- Gross assets rose about 19% from $6,672 billion in the third quarter of 2023.
- The SEC counted 25,155 private equity funds in the third quarter of 2025, up from 21,004 two years earlier.
- The third quarter of 2025 is the most recent quarter in the cited data from the SEC’s Private Fund Statistics, so these figures are more than 12 months old.
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How big is the private equity market?
Private equity funds filing Form PF reported $7,958 billion of gross assets and $7,293 billion of net assets in the third quarter of 2025. That covers SEC-registered advisers only, so it is a floor for the global market rather than a ceiling. The hedge fund industry statistics draw on the same Form PF series.
Selected Private Equity Firms by AUM
- Blackstone ended the second quarter of 2026 with $1,346.3 billion in total assets under management.
- Apollo had approximately $1.05 trillion of assets under management as of June 30, 2026.
- KKR reported $796 billion of assets under management, up 16% year over year.
- Carlyle reported $485 billion of assets under management as of June 30, 2026.
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The flow figures show how fast these platforms are raising and putting money to work.
- Blackstone took in $68.3 billion of inflows in the quarter and $262.5 billion over the last twelve months.
- Blackstone deployed $34.2 billion in the quarter and realized $31.8 billion.
- Carlyle distributed nearly $7 billion during the quarter and $37 billion over the past year.
| Firm | Q2 2026 inflows or capital raised | Q2 2026 capital deployed or invested | Last twelve months inflows or capital raised |
|---|---|---|---|
| Blackstone | $68.3 billion | $34.2 billion | $262.5 billion |
| KKR | $34 billion | $24 billion | $133 billion |
Source: Blackstone and KKR Q2 2026 earnings releases
These firms run credit, real estate and infrastructure alongside buyouts, so their totals measure platform scale rather than private equity alone. The wider asset management statistics put these platforms in context.
Private Equity Deal Activity in the First Half of 2026
- Global private equity acquisitions fell 10% in H1 2026 versus H1 2025, while aggregate deal value remained roughly flat.
- Total deal value slipped from about $353 billion in H1 2025 to about $341 billion in H1 2026.
- US-focused deal value fell 25% between H1 2025 and H1 2026.
- Bain, measuring quarter to quarter, found tech deal value dropped 70% from the fourth quarter of 2025 to the first quarter of 2026.
- Bain’s 2026 midyear report said the recovery stalled as three rapid-fire market shocks dampened dealmaking, fundraising and exits.
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By the numbers: EY’s data shows tech deal value halving from $72 billion to $36 billion between H1 2025 and H1 2026, while all other sectors rose from $281 billion to $305 billion. The 2026 slowdown sits mostly in tech, while the rest of the market kept growing.
GP Sentiment and Sector Priorities
- In EY’s second-quarter survey, 72% of general partners expect deployment to increase over the next six months.
- 56% expect exits to meaningfully accelerate, while just 14% anticipate a decline.
- Healthcare services and healthcare innovation lead planned growth areas at 50%, followed by digital infrastructure at 44%.
- Emerging markets ranked lowest, cited by 2%.
| Investment theme | Share of GPs citing as a top-three growth area (%) |
|---|---|
| Healthcare services and healthcare innovation | 50 |
| Digital infrastructure, cloud, data centers and connectivity | 44 |
| Power, utilities and energy infrastructure | 28 |
| Aerospace, defense and security | 28 |
| Software with AI-resilient characteristics | 28 |
| Industrials, advanced manufacturing and reshoring | 24 |
| Distressed and special situations | 18 |
| Private credit and hybrid capital | 16 |
| Energy transition and sustainability-linked assets | 16 |
| Real estate | 10 |
| Emerging markets | 2 |
Source: EY Private Equity Pulse Q2 2026
Sellers are also showing more flexibility on price to get deals done.
- 90% of GPs said they would accept some discount to their original underwriting in exchange for immediate liquidity on a long-held asset.
- The largest share, 40%, would accept a discount of 6% to 10%.
- Trade sales rose to 71% of exit value over the last six months, and announced exit value was up 9% versus H1 2025.
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European Private Equity Statistics
- Private equity and venture capital firms raised €147 billion in Europe in 2025, a 16% increase and second only to 2022’s record.
- Buyout fundraising reached €103 billion, up 33%, with North American investors supplying almost 30%.
- Investments rose 3% to €135 billion, the second-best year after 2021.
- Buyout investments reached €90 billion, and the mid-market segment represented 34% of the buyout amount.
- Exit value held at €45 billion in 2025.
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Venture capital investment in Europe rose to €20 billion, 20% above the five-year average. The venture capital industry statistics track that segment in more depth.
Asia-Pacific Private Equity Statistics
- Capital raised for Asia-Pacific funds fell to a 12-year low of $58 billion, excluding renminbi-denominated vehicles.
- Asia-Pacific’s share of global fundraising slipped to 5%.
- The average buyout deal in the region fell to a five-year low of $438 million, down from $630 million in 2024.
| Asia-Pacific measure | Value |
|---|---|
| Capital raised, 2025 (excluding RMB funds) | $58 billion |
| Share of global fundraising, 2025 | 5% |
| Average buyout deal size, 2025 | $438 million |
| Average buyout deal size, 2024 | $630 million |
| Mega buyouts above $1 billion, 2025 | 22 |
| Mega buyouts above $1 billion, 2024 | 25 |
Source: Bain & Company Asia-Pacific Private Equity Report 2026
Private Equity Valuations and Return Math
- In the 2010s, a typical deal needed only 5% annual EBITDA growth to reach a 2.5X multiple on invested capital over five years.
- Software valuations in private equity portfolios declined roughly 8% through March 2026, with Europe down 4.2% and the US down 8.9%.
- An MSCI analysis cited by Bain shows over 75% of assets still exit above their next-to-last marks.
- Around 20% of limited partners in an ILPA poll are reducing buyout allocations because of liquidity pressures or return concerns.
| Return driver | 2010s typical deal | Typical deal today |
|---|---|---|
| Annual EBITDA growth needed for a 2.5X return | 5% | Around 10% to 12% |
| Borrowing costs | Not stated | 8% to 9% |
| Leverage ratio | Not stated | 30% to 40% |
Source: Bain & Company Global Private Equity Report 2026
Bain calls this “12 is the new 5”, and it raises the bar for operating improvement before any help from leverage or rising multiples. The private debt market statistics cover the lenders financing these deals.
Conclusion
Private equity closed 2025 with $904 billion of buyouts excluding add-ons and $717 billion of buyout-backed exits, the second-best year on record for both. Yet megadeals led the gains, $3.8 trillion of companies remain unsold, and the 2026 slowdown in tech deals shows how quickly the recovery can stall.
The next test is distributions: Until more cash flows back to investors, fundraising will lag deal activity. The alternative investment industry statistics show how that pressure spreads across other private asset classes.
