Private equity megadeals are set to reach a record amount in 2025. S&P Global Market Intelligence forecasts that the total value of deals over $5 billion will surpass the $230.29 billion recorded back in 2021.
The trend is driven by managers looking to acquire high-quality, high-value companies that are expected to weather the storms of tariff uncertainty and economic confusion, according to a new report from S&P. Year-to-date through August 18, the value of global megadeals completed or announced was $145.33 billion. The value of the deals has increased 16 percent year-over-year. S&P said firms are willing to pay a premium for assets with high earnings and stable cash flows.
Meanwhile, for all the talk of opportunities in lower- and middle-market PE, deals at or below $250 million decreased by 6 percent to a total of $13.96 billion during the same period, due in part to caution in the private credit market.
North America is skewing the global data with a significant portion of the deals announced happening in either the U.S. or Canada. Half the deals are in the technology, media, and telecommunication, or TMT, and consumer industries.
Transactions like Dayforce, which was taken private by Thomas Bravo for $12.3 billion, show that despite the clear and obvious divide between buyers and sellers in the current market, big deals are being done. Firms are willing to pay up to try and manage uncertainty through established companies.
This trend also comes amid a shift in family office behavior as they increasingly shed public equities in favor of private markets, especially PE and direct investing.
BNY Wealth’s Single Family Offices 2025 Investment Insights shows that 28 percent of portfolios are in private equity, comprising the central pillar of most portfolios. The report found that the steady ascension of private companies has been increasing since the 1990s, overtaking the number of public companies in 2012.
