Private equity activity falls 35% in August, hits lowest YTD total since 2019

Global private equity and venture capital deal activity has slowed sharply thus far in 2023,

Through Aug. 31, the aggregate value of private equity deals fell 44% year over year to $302.69 billion, while the number of deals declined 35% to 7,804. Those are the lowest totals for first eight months of a year since at least 2019, according to S&P Global Market Intelligence data.

Total deal value includes acquisitions of entire companies, minority stake acquisitions and funding rounds.

For August, deal value was down 46% year on year to $27.64 billion and volume dropped 35% to 812 transactions, according to the data.

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The US and Canada accounted for $15.08 billion in deal activity in August, equivalent to 55% of the global total. Asia-Pacific and Europe accounted for $6.54 billion and $5.06 billion, respectively.

Asia-Pacific had the highest number of transactions in August with 354, followed by the US and Canada with 256 and Europe with 162 deals.

The technology, media and telecommunications sector pulled in the most investment at $8.78 billion, representing 32% to the total deal value for August. Next was the industrials sector, which raised $5.24 billion, followed by healthcare with $3.37 billion in capital.

The most significant private equity deal announced in August was Clayton Dubilier & Rice LLC's agreement to take private NYSE-listed packaging and products company Veritiv Corp. for roughly $2.9 billion. The acquisition is expected to close in the fourth quarter, subject to approval of Vertiv's shareholders and regulators.