Top Five Private Equity Companies Globally Raised $288.7bn in Six Years

The global private equity industry witnessed a strong deal activity in the last year, despite the fiscal and geopolitical uncertainty. Although many private equity general partners believe the economy has reached a cyclical peak, they continued making deals and raising substantial capital.

According to data presented by AksjeBloggen, the world’s five leading private equity companies raised $288.7bn between 2014 and 2020. With $95.95bn, or 33% of that amount, Blackstone ranked as the leading private equity firm globally.

US Companies Dominate the Global Private Equity Market

Private equity firms raise funds from wealthy individuals and institutions and invest that money in buying and selling businesses. They typically buy controlling shares of a company, with the plan of later taking it public or selling to another firm to turn a profit. After raising a certain amount, the private equity fund will close to new investors. Each fund is liquidated in usually no more than ten years, after selling all its businesses.

Behind Blackstone as the market leader, the Carlyle Group ranked as the second-leading private equity firm with $61.72bn in fundraising sum between 2014 and 2020, revealed Statista and Private Equity International data. Statistics show the US multinational alternative asset management, private equity and financial services corporation also ranked as the fourth most active private equity investor worldwide in 2019, with a total of 82 deals.

Another US global investment company, KKR & Co. Inc., raised $54.76bn in the last six years, ranking as the third-leading private equity company globally. The San Francisco-based TPG Capital and Warburg Pincus follow, with $38.68bn and $37.59bn in total fundraising sum.

The Private Equity International data indicate US companies dominate the global private equity market, with eight out of ten leading firms from the United States.

Private Equity Deal-Making Slowed During COVID-19 Pandemic

Although the leading private equity companies raised a significant amount of funds in the last six years, statistics show that private equity deal-making significantly slowed amid the COVID-19 crisis.

The first half of the year was turbulent for deals activity, driven by economic and market uncertainty and tightening credit availability. As a result, the combined value of deals dropped to $327bn, a 19% decrease compared to H2 2019, revealed the PitchBook data.

In the first quarter of 2020, the total value of deals amounted to $182.6bn, the same as a year ago. However, between March and June, this figure dropped 35% year-on-year to $144.1bn.

Statistics show the Energy, B2C, B2B, and Materials & Resources sectors witnessed the sharpest decline during the second quarter of the year. On the other hand, dealmakers showed a growing interest in the Technology, Media, and Telecom sector, driven by an increasing interest in innovations and scalable technology.