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US PE Breakdown

2018 Annual

US PE Breakdown

January 10, 2019

In the 2018 Annual US PE Breakdown, PitchBook private equity analysts mine datasets to discuss trends cropping up across deals, exits, and fundraising in the asset class. In a spotlight, the report offers insight into the recently burgeoning GP stakes strategy, which had a record-setting year. On top of that, the Breakdown investigates how the factors that shaped 2018 may shift moving into 2019 and what that portends for dealmakers, portfolio companies, and limited partners alike.

In 2018, US PE saw:
  • $713.0 billion total deal value across 4,828 deals (17.2% and 5.5% YoY increases, respectively)
  • $365.4 billion total exit value across 1,049 exits (a 0.1% YoY increase and a $16.3 YoY decrease, respectively)
  • $166.64 billion total capital raised across 186 funds (25.9% and 20.9% YoY decreases, respectively)

Note: This report was updated on January 17, 2019 in order to account for an erroneous aggregate deal value in 2018.