Private Equity Fundraising Surged to $459bn in First Half

Jul 8, 2021 | News

Private-equity fundraising is surging as the U.S. economic recovery takes root, with the industry on pace to challenge its best year ever for gathering capital.

Private-equity funds world-wide, including venture capital vehicles, closed on $459 billion this year through June, the highest sum for the period in at least the past five years, according to data released Thursday by Preqin Ltd. The tally is about 51% above the $303 billion raised in the same period of last year, when the Covid-19 pandemic briefly interrupted. 

Zooming in on Europe, the same trend appears.

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The European PE-industry rebounded strongly in the 12 months to 30 June 2021 following the initial shock of Covid-induced lockdowns.The European PE-industry rebounded strongly in the 12 months to 30 June 2021 following the initial shock of Covid-induced lockdowns.

The volume of PE-backed acquisitions in Europe fell to its joint-lowest level since mid-2009 during the first wave of the pandemic. But after just 102 transactions were completed in Q2 2020, the industry quickly recovered to pre-Covid activity levels.

The 791 buyouts that took place in the past 12 months, with a cumulative value of €116.6 billion, exceed the corresponding figures for 2019 (716 deals with an aggregate value of €112.4bn) and approach the post-2008 high-water mark set in 2018 (811 deals valued at €124.7bn).

Source: Wall Street Journal

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