2026 US Private Equity Outlook: Midyear Update (PitchBook / NVCA)

Summary

• Exit count rose 8.2% YoY in 2025 after 4.4% in 2024, but both exit count and exit value declined QoQ in Q1 2026.p.4
• The US PE inventory grew to 13,325 companies as of Q1 2026 from around 12,900 in Q3 2025, equal to over a 10.8-year inventory at the Q1 pace of exits.p.4
• The top 10 funds captured 40.3% of US PE fundraising in 2025 and 48.2% in the first five months of 2026.p.7
• Platform LBOs' share of the PE deal mix dropped from 21% at the end of 2025 to 18.8% through the end of May, while add-ons reached 74.7% of buyout activity.p.10
• From 2021 through 2025, IT accounted for an average 30.4% of platform LBO deal value, versus only 12.7% through the end of May 2026.p.10
• 64 continuation fund-related exits were tracked globally through the end of May, below the 73 recorded through the end of May 2025.p.13
• PE exit activity in 2025 reached 1,476 exits for an aggregate of $661.1 billion, including estimates.p.3

Key insights

1. 26.9% of current PE-backed assets are 7 years or older, a slight improvement from the 30% seen in the middle of Q4 2025.p.4
2. 33% of 2017 deals are still held by their PE sponsors, compared with 26.4% of the 2012 cohort at the same stage of maturity.p.4
3. More than 1,300 US PE-backed companies are in the software subsector, which is exposed to fears of AI-driven disruption.p.2
4. The top five funds account for 34.6% of this year's fundraising through May, up from 29% in 2025 and the highest level in the past 10 years.p.7
5. In 2025, platform LBOs accounted for $656.8 billion of nearly $1.2 trillion in PE deal activity.p.9
6. The median age of still-held PE assets rose from 3 years in 2022 to 4 years in 2025.p.3