European private equity sponsors are striking new deals faster than they can exit old ones, pushing the deals-to-exit ratio to 2.9x in the first half of 2026, the highest level in at least a decade. Around 1,556 deals were struck in the first six months, while only 537 assets were realized, according to PitchBook's Q2 2026 European PE Breakdown. Exit value surged 29.7% quarter-over-quarter to €98.8 billion, the best quarter in three years, but exit count remained flat as 22 mega-exits accounted for 65.8% of all exit value, compared with a decade average of 43.6%. Notable exits include Advent International and Cinven's €29.4 billion sale of TK Elevator to Finland's Kone, and Advent alongside the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority exiting Innio Group through a €17.3 billion Nasdaq IPO. The European Central Bank's first interest rate increase since 2023 in June introduced a new headwind, and the backlog will persist until distributions catch up with dealmaking.
KONE Oyj
INNIO N.V. Ordinary Shares
Nasdaq Inc