This extract from Preqin’s Quarterly Update: Private Equity, Q1 2015 focuses on global private equity-backed buyout deals, featuring the latest available data.
The number of private equity-backed buyout deals recorded globally in Q1 2015 fell by 20 per cent from 958 in Q4 2014 to 770 in the first quarter of 2015, consistent with a trend that has seen a dip in the number of deals in the first quarter in every year since 2008 (Fig 1). However, the aggregate value rose by 14 per cent from USD85 billion in Q4 2014 to USD97 billion in Q1 2015, the highest quarterly total deal value since the pre-crisis third quarter of 2007 (USD125 billion).
The rise in the global aggregate value of deals in Q1 2015 was driven by an 86 per cent increase in total value for North American deals, which was largely a result of the private equity-backed merger between H. J. Heinz Company and Kraft Foods Group. At USD69 billion, aggregate deal value in the region fell just short of the USD73 billion peak seen in Q1 2013. The aggregate value of deals in Europe fell by 43 per cent to USD17 billion in Q1 compared to the previous quarter, while Asia witnessed a 70 per cent fall to USD3.5 billion and recorded its lowest quarterly total deal value since Q1 2009 (Fig 2).
Although the number of IPOs and follow-on offerings held steady at 68 in the first quarter, declines in sale-to-GP and trade sale activity resulted in an 18 per cent drop in the total number of exits to 353 compared to Q4 2014 (Fig 3). Despite this decrease in number, the aggregate value of exits globally rose 10 per cent from USD91 billion in Q4 2014 to USD100 billion in Q1 2015.
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