Private equity dealmakers are completing fewer but bigger-ticket transactions in 2025.
That’s among the takeaways from KPMG’s third quarter “Pulse of Private Equity” report released late last week.
According to the Big Four accounting firm’s research, there were 4,062 private equity deals globally in the third quarter of this year, down from 5,070 in the same quarter of 2024. And yet, total global private equity investment ticked up to $537 billion in Q3 2025 compared to $512 billion a year ago.
Private equity activity in the United States largely mirrored global trends. Deal count in the U.S. dropped 1,791 in the third quarter, while deal value surged to $300.2 billion. That marks the first time deal value in the U.S. has surpassed $300 billion since the first quarter of 2022, according to KPMG.
Over the first three quarters of 2025, private equity firms have made a total of $827.8 billion worth of transactions, which is “just shy of 2024’s total and on pace to reach a four-year high despite a significant decline in deal volume,” KPMG said in the report.
KPMG’s report called out the three largest U.S. deals driving much of the surge in value: the roughly $55 billion buyout of Electronic Arts, the $28.2 billion purchase of aircraft leasing company Air Lease and the $12.4 billion acquisition of HR software firm Dayforce. The EA buy is reportedly the largest leveraged buyout of all time, according to The Wall Street Journal.
In a recent interview, Don Zambarano, KPMG’s U.S. sector leader for private equity, said he was struck by the market’s “resilience” in the face of several confounding variables. He pointed out that, while there have been four consecutive quarters of declining deal volumes, the size of the deals is pushing overall value “well beyond historical levels.”
It’s worth noting that the three aforementioned deals all took publicly traded companies private. Zambarano said that’s in line with a broader trend of a declining number of public companies. In the U.S., there are now just about 4,000 publicly traded companies, down from around 8,000 in 1996, Zambarano said.
He said public companies, generally speaking, tend to face their own sets of challenges. Private equity investors, meanwhile, see their opportunity to step in and initiate large-scale “transformations” at these firms.
“Managing public businesses on a quarter-to-quarter basis while trying to innovate and grow is a real challenge,” Zambarano said. “The ability for these private equity companies to drive value creation is greater than being part of a public entity.”
The larger value of deals may also reflect “pent-up demand for exits” among private equity interests, Zambarano said. Hold periods have been increasing as private equity firms and other sellers seek out higher-priced bids. As evidenced by the three megadeals in Q3, some firms are starting to find buyers willing to match their price.
Zambarano predicts a “resurgence in private equity activity” in the fourth quarter.
“I would describe the last couple quarters as cautious optimism,” he said. “But I think we’re moving to a period where that’s going to be more like disciplined optimism. … That’s going to allow more deals to get done.”
