Global buyout deal values and entry multiples experienced a significant rebound in 2024, reaching the second-highest levels on record. These increases, explain Senior Partner Alexander Edlich and coauthors, followed a decline in 2023, indicating a resurgence in the market. Given what dealmakers paid and how they financed their deals, the data potentially signal higher investor confidence. The overall increase in multiples may be attributed in part to a change in the quality mix, in which sponsors are exiting higher-quality businesses that are achieving better valuations.
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A stacked pair of charts illustrate median global buyout entry multiples and total global buyout deal value. At top is a bar chart showing the median global buyout entry multiple (purchase price/EBITDA) from 2009 to 2024. The multiple started at 6.5x in 2009, fluctuated between 7.7x and 8.5x from 2012 to 2015, rose to 8.6x in 2016, and then reached a high of 12.0x in 2022 before declining slightly to 11.9x in 2024.
At the bottom is a line chart showing the total global buyout deal value in billions of dollars from 2009 to 2024. The deal value began at ~$300 billion in 2009, increased gradually to ~$950 billion by 2015, experienced a moderate rise to ~$1,200 billion by 2018, and then increased to ~$2,000 billion by 2021 before declining to ~$1,400 billion in 2024. The data include private equity buyout and leveraged buyout transactions of various types.
Note: This image description was completed with the assistance of Writer, a gen AI tool.
Source: PitchBook; SPI by StepStone.
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To read the article, see “Global Private Markets Report 2025: Private equity emerging from the fog,” February 13, 2025.