French buyout market continues strong rebound in H1

The country was home to 136 private-equity-backed buyouts between January and June this year, according to preliminary statistics, with a strong likelihood that this figure will continue to climb as more deals come to light via secondary research. These tallied up to an estimated aggregate enterprise value of nearly €33.7bn.

Both figures are new records for buyout activity in any given half-year. The value total in particular eclipses all previous semi-annual tallies by some margin. By comparison, Unquote recorded 126 buyouts worth a total of €21.1bn in H2 last year, with just €17.2bn across 86 deals logged for H1 2020.

On average, France was home to 114 buyouts worth a combined €15.4bn in each half-year between 2015 and 2019.

The sharp value increase in H1 2021 was driven to a large extent by an unprecedented string of mega-buyouts in the country. These included Cerba Healthcare, DomusVi, Circet, Siaci Saint Honoré, and more.

Overall, France was home to nine buyouts valued in excess of €1bn apiece in the first half, comfortably outpacing the UK and German markets (with five and four deals each, respectively). Four of these were valued at more than €3bn.

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