Private Equity Exits Are Reawakening in Europe

Overall exit activity in 2025 rose 5 percent year over year, marking the second consecutive annual improvement. The first half felt cautious. The second half delivered momentum, with Q3 and Q4 carrying most of the weight.

The headline story is scale. €1 billion plus exits surged 28 percent to 96 deals. The reopening of IPO markets helped, highlighted by Verisure’s €13.7 billion listing, the largest PE backed IPO in European history. Large cap assets that were shelved in 2023 and 2024 are finally finding windows. For sponsors sitting on mature trophy assets, that shift matters.

Yet the recovery is uneven. Industrials and Consumer remain stubbornly slow, with some of the longest holding periods across sectors. By contrast, TMT and Financial Services are clearing more smoothly, reflecting stronger earnings visibility and buyer appetite.

The holding period data tells the deeper story. The European average now sits at 5.3 years. Several major firms are well above that. Macquarie leads at 7.7 years, followed by Partners Group at 6.8 and Brookfield at 6.6. Even traditionally active sellers like Permira and Cinven are hovering near six years. At the other end, Bain Capital and Apollo are closer to 4.2 and 4.3 years respectively.

Longer holds are not simply strategic patience. They are evidence of valuation friction. Assets bought in the 2020 and 2021 peak environment are harder to exit cleanly without write downs. That tension is visible in the 2021 vintage data. By year four, 23 percent of those deals have exited, versus a historical norm of 26 to 27 percent. It is not dramatic, but it confirms that peak pricing still lingers in portfolios.

Firm level exit counts reinforce the divergence in strategy. CVC tops the league table with 17 exits in 2025, well ahead of EQT at 12 and Ardian at 10. PAI Partners and Cinven follow with eight each. Others such as Carlyle, Bridgepoint, and Blackstone cluster in the mid single digits. A long tail of global players recorded only two to four exits. The message is clear. Liquidity is back, but it is concentrated in the hands of the most prepared sellers.

Regionally, performance is also fragmented. UK and Ireland, France, Italy, and Iberia have fared comparatively better. DACH and Benelux remain more challenged. The Nordics report the longest average holding periods at 5.9 years, underscoring the valuation discipline in those markets and perhaps a slower buyer rebound.

For GPs, the strategic implications are threefold.

First, mega exits are open but selective. Sponsors with scaled, defensible assets can test IPO or strategic routes again. Those with cyclical or margin pressured names may still face discounts.

Second, portfolio management discipline matters more than ever. Firms that actively prepared assets through cost restructuring, digital transformation, and bolt on integration are now the ones converting backlog into cash.

Third, 2026 planning should not assume a full normalization. Exit velocity is improving, but it remains below historical clearing speed for peak vintages. Capital recycling will depend on quality bias, not simply market beta.

Private equity exits in Europe are not back to boom times. But they are no longer frozen. For sponsors and LPs alike, the window is cracked open. The firms that move decisively, and realistically, will define the next chapter of liquidity. (More)