AI drives European private equity investments in US to 4-year high

European private equity- and venture capital-backed transactions in the US climbed to a four-year high in 2025, driven by investor interest in AI.

Outbound investments into the US from Europe, including the UK, totaled $116.26 billion in 2025, the highest level since $157.68 billion in 2021, according to S&P Global Market Intelligence data. The momentum continued in January, with total transaction value reaching $10.32 billion, compared with $4.65 billion in the same month a year ago.

"The uptick [in investments] back into the US over the last 12 to 18 months has been AI-driven," said Ken Barry, head of Europe private equity at White & Case LLP. "The US, and to a degree, parts of Asia, are leading the way on AI development."

In the largest European private equity-backed transaction in 2025, OpenAI LLC raised $41 billion in a mature round in March 2025. Firms including London-based SB Investment Advisers (UK) Ltd., Blackstone Inc., Sequoia Capital Operations LLC and Andreessen Horowitz LLC participated.

The AI company had five rounds of funding in 2024 and two in 2025, according to Market Intelligence data. Its post-money valuation after its $1 billion round in December 2025 stood at $500 billion.

Some European firms have taken a more cautious stance on investing in the US following the imposition of tariffs, while others have expanded their investments to comply with the US government's push to increase manufacturing in the country, said William Barrett, managing partner at placement firm Reach Capital.

"A number of European companies that are exporting to the US, given the constant talk around tariffs, realized that they needed some local presence in the US," Barrett said.

European businesses are also attracted to the scale and depth of the US market as well as the opportunity to grow with minimal operational complexity, said Christopher Sand, head of US buyouts and managing director at private equity firm Ardian SAS.

"[The US] is one of the few markets where they can expand meaningfully without fundamentally changing their business model, products or services," Sand said.

– Download a spreadsheet with data in this story. – Read about global private equity rounds of funding in January. – Explore more private equity coverage.

European investments per sector

The technology, media and telecommunications (TMT) sector accounted for the largest share of European private equity-backed investment targeting the US in 2025, with $75.62 billion in total transaction value, supported by OpenAI's $41 billion funding round.

The healthcare sector came second, with transaction value totaling $13.33 billion. In the largest European private equity-backed deal in 2025, Montagu Private Equity LLP and Kohlberg & Co. LLC agreed to acquire medical device company Teleflex Medical OEM LLC for $1.5 billion in a carveout transaction.

Meanwhile, the industrial sector had $7.98 billion in total funding. The largest European private equity-backed industrial deal was Permira Advisers Ltd.'s acquisition of fire protection services company Encore Holdings LLC from Levine Leichtman Capital Partners LLC for $1.8 billion.

Outlook

Investments from European firms will remain active in 2026, supported by improving M&A conditions on both sides of the Atlantic, Ardian's Sand said.

"Sectors tied to long-term demand trends, such as health and wellness, essential business-to-business services and the food value chain, remain particularly attractive for us," Sand said.

European funds investing in the US might get trickier for sectors such as defense, cybersecurity and heavy industries, Reach Capital's Barrett said.

"Having a foreign owner of a US company is becoming more and more tricky because a number of sectors are now considered strategic," Barrett said.