Higher Median Deal Value Moves Buyout Spending Upward Despite Lower Deal Count

According to Pitchbook, private equity buyout activity in February nearly doubled, posting the fourth highest level of invested capital and the lowest number of deals during the last twelve months. Private equity investment increased 83% from $24.7 billion in January to $45.2 billion. However, only 297 deals took place in the month, almost 20% less than the second lowest month. In fact, the median deal size for private equity was up to $79 million in February, significantly higher than the median deal size of $41 million in 2018.

​Of the 297 deals, 110 were in the business-to-business space with nearly half of the deals in the manufacturing and industrials verticals. The most capital, however, was spent in the information technology sector, totaling $21.9 billion, or 48.5% of all capital.