Q2’26 Pulse of Private Equity

Large deals in EMA region keep PE investment resilient

The rolling twelve-month PE investment total remained on a positive trajectory, rising slightly from $775.7 billion in Q1’26 to $782.4 billion in Q2’26, despite a continued decline in deal volume; between Q1’26 and Q2’26, rolling twelve-month deal volume fell from 9,084 deals to 8,732.

Large, high-quality deals across the region helped keep PE investment very resilient despite ongoing geopolitical and economic uncertainties, led by the $14.6 billion take private of
UK-based testing and certification company Intertek Group by EQT, the $8.6 buyout of Germany-based engine and turbomachinery company Everllence by Bain Capital,¹ and the $6.7 billion take private of Italy-based Recordati by CVC Capital Partners and Groupe Bruxelles Lambert.

PE investment in the UK and India holding steady at mid-year, while other jurisdictions see pullback

Both PE investment and deal volume in the UK remained strong and remarkably steady, with $105.3 billion invested across 991 deals at mid-year compared to $210.6 billion across 2,040 deals during 2025. India also saw steady investment, with $15.8 billion invested by the end of Q2’26 compared to $31.8 billion in 2025, despite softer deal volume. After reaching three- and four-year highs respectively in 2025, both Germany and France saw PE investment slip. Germany attracted $34.9 billion across 401 deals in the first half of 2026 compared to $87.7 billion across 951 deals in 2025, while France attracted $31.1 billion across 508 deals compared to $91.8 billion across 1,170 deals.

Infrastructure and transportation the only sector tracking ahead of last year in EMA

The TMT sector attracted the largest share of PE investment in the EMA region during the first half of 2026 ($93 billion in investment across 1,442 deals), followed by the consumer and retail sector ($41.3 billion across 555 deals) and the energy and natural resources sector ($40.9 billion across 359 deals), although all three sectors were tracking below their 2025 results. Of the sectors tracked, only infrastructure and transportation was on pace to exceed its 2025 total, with $27.1 billion across 338 deals at mid-year compared to $35.4 billion across 660 deals in 2025.

Trends to watch for in Q3’26

There is cautious optimism for private equity investment in the EMA region heading into Q3 2026. While ongoing political and geopolitical tensions are expected to persist, investors anticipate that the market will continue to demonstrate resilience. A strengthening deal pipeline should support increased investment, particularly in AI and energy infrastructure, hardware, and industrial manufacturing. At the same time, deal activity is expected to remain focused and selective, with corporate carve-outs, take-private transactions, and other transformative opportunities continuing to drive activity through the second half of 2026.Exit activity is also expected to accelerate in the second half of the year, supported by the large volume of assets that have been prepared for sale.

Although Q2’26 was not particularly strong from a macroeconomic perspective, there are encouraging signs emerging in the market. IPO conditions in the US are improving, deal activity is picking up in select markets, and renewed exit activity among some large PE houses provides a positive signal for the second half of 2026. Also, sizeable transactions continue to come through across EMA, particularly high-quality, high-value deals in areas such as AI infrastructure, technology beyond software, and energy. Overall, there are good reasons to be optimistic about the back half of the year, with stronger PE activity expected in both deal volume and, more notably, deal value.

Tilman Ost

Global Private Equity Advisory Leader

KPMG in Germany