Q4 Barometer: Record value in 2015 despite end-of-year dip

unquote" and SL Capital
10 February 2016

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Despite a cooling-off in Q4, overall stats for 2015 activity show aggregate value increasing by 38.4% while dealflow fell by 9.7%, according to the latest unquoteт Private Equity Barometer, published in association with SL Capital Partners.

The result of these contrasting trends was that average deal value jumped by a whopping 53.2% in 2015.

Looking at the fourth quarter of 2015, the number of European private-equity-backed deals slipped by 9.1%, from 396 transactions in the third quarter to 360 in the final quarter. However, the over-arching trend of swelling aggregate value was not evident in the fourth quarter, with total value declining by 11.6% compared with the previous period. In line with this, the €102.2m average deal value seen in the third quarter was 2.8% higher than that of Q4.

Looking exclusively at buyout deals, dealflow held reasonably steady in Q4, falling by just two transactions from 138 in the previous period to 136. However, this figure represents the lowest total seen over the last three quarters. The combined value of buyout transactions dropped by 14% from Q3's €34.2bn to €29.4bn.

In the growth capital segment, total deal volume dropped by 19.1%, from 188 in the third quarter to 152 in the fourth. Overall value rose by 3.8% from €5.8bn to €6.1bn. Looking at full-year figures for 2015, the aggregate value of growth capital deals jumped by 63.8%, up from €11.6bn in 2014 to €19.1bn.

Read the full report, including detailed statistics for the growth capital and venture capital markets, as well as regional breakdowns.