Global private equity exit volume declines in Q1 2026

The volume of global private equity exits fell 6.25% year over year in the first quarter to 720 from 768.

Trade sale transactions fell to 566 from 603, while secondary buyouts — sales to another general partner — declined to 141 from 153. The number of IPO exits rose to 13 from 12, according to S&P Global Market Intelligence data.

The aggregate transaction value spiked to $311.18 billion, driven by one deal: the $250 billion sale of X.AI LLC to Space Exploration Technologies Corp. (SpaceX).

Macroeconomic headwinds, changing tariffs and supply chain risks that have persisted for the past few years have made company valuations difficult and slowed exit activity, said Brenden Gobell, managing director for client strategy and data insights at With Intelligence.

The volume of closed deals has continued to drop, which is "not a good indicator of where the confidence is among buyers," Gobell said.

On the buy side, investors are struggling to find enough high-quality companies worth investing in. On the sell side, investors already held onto some investments for perhaps two or three years longer than planned. Private equity holding periods have continued to lengthen through fiscal 2025, with median durations now consistently surpassing five years, up from a range of 4-4.6 years during 2017–19, according to a With Intelligence report.

Sellers now need to exit at an even higher price than originally expected to achieve promised returns and make it easier to raise their next fund, Gobell said. This puts them in a difficult position: They are reluctant to sell at a lower valuation, even as they know they will ultimately need to return cash to investors.

IPOs have been slow to pick up, even with a gradual recovery in 2025 and expectations for stronger activity, according to Victoria Chernykh, vice president of private equity at Preqin.

"IPO markets have not broadly reopened, removing an historically important exit route," Chernykh said.

Sales to strategic buyers during the first quarter reached $270.81 billion, skewed by the outsized SpaceX transaction. Secondary buyouts totaled $39.06 billion, and IPO exits were valued at $1.32 billion.

First-quarter exits amounted to roughly half of the $629.59 billion total exit value recorded for all of 2025.

– Download a spreadsheet with data featured in this story. – Read about the falling volume of global private equity deals and venture capital rounds of funding in the first quarter. – Explore more private market headlines.

Most active sector

The IT sector had the highest number of exits in the year through March 31 with 198 transactions, according to Market Intelligence data. Industrials followed with 123 exits, while healthcare had 87.

Exits are more resilient in AI-adjacent and digital infrastructure-linked businesses, where strategic demand is emerging, Chernykh said. Additionally, small and midmarket buyouts benefit from broader buyer pools and financing flexibility.

Outsize deal

In the largest exit deal in the first quarter, rocket and satellite company SpaceX acquired AI company X.AI in a $250 billion transaction. Both businesses are owned by Tesla Inc. co-founder and CEO Elon Musk. The seller group included Sequoia Capital Operations LLC, Lightspeed Ventures LLC, Kingdom Holding Co., Valor Management LLC, StepStone Group Inc., Andreessen Horowitz LLC, Vy Capital, Craft Ventures LLC, CoreNest Capital and MGX Fund Management Ltd.

The second-largest exit in the first quarter was the $10.61 billion announced agreement to sell InPost SA, an out-of-home e-commerce enablement platform providing parcel locker services, by an investor group including PPF Group NV, Advent Global Opportunities Management LLC and AI Prime & Cy SCA. An investor consortium including Advent International LP, FedEx Corp., PPF Group and A&R Investment Ltd. is acquiring the business.

With Intelligence is a part of S&P Global Market Intelligence.