Research — 27 Aug, 2021
EMEA Private Equity Market Snapshot Issue 29
By Ilja Hauerhof, Ewa Skornas, Ksenija Morozova, Michael Gibney, and Kris Elaine Figuracion
Welcome to the 29th issue of the EMEA Private Equity Market Snapshot (PEMS), a quarterly publication focusing on the Private Equity (PE) market in Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA) from S&P Global Market Intelligence.
Deal-making accelerated in Q2 2021, with General Partners (GPs) deploying significantly greater investments in EMEA companies. Although the number of deals increased by only 22%, the size of deals overall saw a massive increase, as investors continued to focus on Information Technology (IT), Healthcare, Industrials, and Consumer Products.
The venture capital (VC) segment is on track for a record year. In the first six months of 2021, European VC activity hit an all-time high, raising €41.8bn and outpacing 2020’s cumulative total of €32.6bn. U.S. VC investors are increasingly interested in the European market; their investments have dominated funding in 2021 compared with last year. Europe’s unicorn list has also expanded at an accelerated rate.
Finally, healthcare M&A activity has rebounded significantly from the same period last year, bolstered mostly by COVID-19. The sector has seen increased aggregate deal values as companies look to deploy their 2020 windfalls into acquisitions of healthtech and life sciences companies