The State of European Private Equity Report H1 2025 (Gain.pro)

Summary

• PE deal activity made a comeback in 2024, up 12% year-over-year, as investors started to deploy dry powder.p.4
• Add-on deal activity in Europe was down ~14% yoy; Services was the largest sector for add-ons (43% of deals), followed by TMT (18%) and Industrials (15%).p.15
• PE exit activity picked up in 2024, up 24% year-over-year.p.20
• The median company that exited in 2024 spent 5.7 years in the portfolio, compared to 4.7 years in 2020.p.22
• The median PE-backed business grew 12.4% in 2023 vs. 19.5% in 2022 and 17.1% in 2021.p.34
• North American investors account for 38% of larger transactions (>€200m EBITDA).p.12

Key insights

1. Sponsor-to-sponsor deals rose from 26% of deals in 2023 to 31% in 2024, while family-to-sponsor deals still made up the largest share (53%).p.5
2. France has 35% of entries as sponsor-to-sponsor deals compared to 27% across Europe.p.9
3. 51% of PE-backed entries in France were minority stakes, compared to 20% in DACH, 28% in Benelux and 35% in the UK.p.10
4. Nordics is the most add-on heavy region in Europe, with 55% of assets pursuing a buy-and-build strategy.p.18
5. PE-backed businesses with over 5 acquisitions grew at a 5-year CAGR of 20.4% compared to 7.6% for businesses with no acquisitions.p.16
6. Add-on targets are often ~10% cheaper to buy than platform deals, but the discount is narrowing.p.17
7. Strategic exits dropped from 53% of all exits in 2023 to 46% in 2024.p.21
8. 52% of exits in France were sponsor-to-sponsor, versus 43% for all regions.p.27
9. Assets that grow faster (>25% revenue CAGR) sell at ~50% premium to those that grow slower (<5% revenue CAGR).p.29
10. The median PE-owned asset has an EBITDA margin of 11.7%, up from 11.0% in 2017.p.36