It’s time to get out the confetti and noisemakers. Private equity dealmaking came back in a big way in 2024, and the party isn’t expected to end this year, either.
PE deal value last year totaled $838.5 billion, an increase of 19.3% from 2023, while deal count grew 12.8% YoY to nearly 8,500, according to a Cherry Bekaert report. Dealmaking bounced back from a down 2023, when the total deal count decreased 16% and value fell by 25%.
Activity picked up last year in major sectors, including technology, healthcare, professional services, and industrials. This widespread recovery, “when coupled with a potentially strong economic tailwind, could signal that the worst of the downturn and the most destabilizing period in private equity since the great financial crisis is likely behind us,” according to the report.
The report states that PE dealmaking this year should benefit from both “macroeconomic and regulatory conditions.” Beyond that, “high levels of deployable capital, sponsors seeking liquidity events, and an improving macroeconomic environment are all combining to create the most optimistic outlook on dealmaking in five years,” according to the report. On the other hand, the threat of trade wars along with changes to tax policy “remain a serious threat.”
Much of this commentary tracks with what experts recently told CFO Brew about the M&A market as a whole. The settled November presidential election, experts said, gave PE firms and corporations some certainty about regulatory priorities in the new year.
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