Fewer but larger buyout deals are dominating Southern Europe’s private equity landscape in 2024, as deal value grew 31.4% from 2023 to €80.8 billion (around $84.9 billion).
However, the number of transactions has declined steadily since its last peak in 2022. This year, 723 were completed, down from 823 last year and 918 in 2022.
While the global investment landscape faced macroeconomic pressures, including rising interest rates and geopolitical uncertainties, Southern Europe’s PE market remained relatively strong in 2024, far outperforming pre-pandemic years.
Deal count in 2024 is still much higher than 2019, which saw 534 transactions, and deal size has nearly doubled from the same year, showcasing long-term growth.
Italy has played a strong role in this growth, with the country on course for a record year for PE deal value in 2024. So far this year, around €51.3 billion has been transacted across 461 deals in the country, accounting for over two-thirds of the deal value in Southern Europe.
2024 recorded the largest PE buyout deal in the history of the region when KKR acquired the Rome-based telecommunications network NetCo from Telecom Italia in a €22-billion LBO.
Cinven also acquired Idealista, the Spanish operator of an online property portal, through a €2.9 billion LBO, valuing the company at approximately €4.1 billion. The transaction included €415 million in debt financing to refinance existing debt.
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