Source page: McKinsey & Company
Commentary
PE deal dip but bigger buyouts
Private equity | Venture capital
March 17, 2026 – After a few years of muted deal activity and fundraising, 2025 saw a meaningful rebound in global private equity (PE) deal value, up 19 percent. The boost was primarily driven by a 27 percent increase in buyout deal value, note McKinsey’s Alexander Edlich, Chris Llewellyn, Christopher Croke, Rahel Schneider, and Warren Teichner. The total number of PE deals declined by 9 percent, indicating a market shift toward fewer but larger transactions. New highs in deal value, coupled with simultaneous declines in deal count, reflect the careful navigation of last year’s shifting geopolitical and trade environments, leading to more cautious underwriting and deal timing.
To read the report, see “Global Private Markets Report 2026 Private equity: Clearer view, tougher terrain,” February 10, 2026.
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Visual form
Area Chart: two-panel stacked-area comparison of global private-equity deal value and deal count from 2016 to 2025.
Layout / body structure
The left panel stacks annual deal value by deal type, and the right panel stacks annual deal count using the same categories. Reading across the two panels shows whether changes in value are coming from more deals, larger deals, or a different mix of venture, buyout, and growth transactions.
What is being compared
It compares global private-equity deal value with global private-equity deal count, broken into venture, buyout, and growth categories over time.
Measurement system
Deal value is measured in US dollars, while deal count is measured as the number of transactions. The chart highlights year-over-year percentage changes from 2024 to 2025.
Visible structure inside the graphic
The value area rises in 2025 after several muted years, while the deal-count area moves down. The buyout segment is the key driver of the value rebound, making the left panel rise even though the right panel does not.
Main takeaway from the visual
The chart shows a private-equity market shifting toward fewer but larger transactions. Deal value rebounded in 2025, but the number of deals fell, so the recovery is about deal size more than deal frequency.
Key standout values or extremes
Total PE deal value rose 19 percent in 2025, helped by a 27 percent increase in buyout deal value. Total deal count fell 9 percent, and the earlier peak remains around the 2021 high before the market cooled.
Controls / sequence, when applicable
This is a static two-panel stacked-area chart; there are no in-chart controls to operate.
Companion media, when applicable
There is no separate companion audio or video; the PE deal-value and deal-count area chart is the full visual on this page.