PE take-private deal activity

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Take-private deal value was buoyed by a handful of gargantuan deals, even as the number of transactions declined YoY. There were 80 PE-led take-privates in 2025, down 18.4% from 98 in 2024 and below the previous five-year average of 88 transactions. Deal value climbed to $254.6 billion, increasing 67.2% YoY and ending 2025 as the second-highest year on record for take-private activity. Only the $381.3 billion in deal value in 2007 outdid 2025. While the number of such transactions has faltered YoY as booming public markets limit PE buyers from underwriting those high-valuation deals, the return of a risk-on appetite combined with ample dry powder and timely opportunities in areas such as tech and B2B have led to a surge of outsized take-private investments. Improving credit conditions and another rate cut in December are likely to encourage further large take-private acquisitions. Sponsors are resuming megadeal transactions after several years of targeting opportunities down market to find undervalued companies or to lessen the burden of higher borrowing costs.