Even though private equity's share of terminated M&A deals declined on a quarter-over-quarter basis in the third quarter, it remains elevated over the third quarter of 2021, according to S&P Global Market Intelligence data.

The average share of terminated M&A deals involving private equity or venture capital stood at 10% in 2021, while for the first three quarters of 2022, the average share of terminated deals stands at 13%, which is larger than the entire previous year.

The third quarter saw only five terminated private equity or venture capital M&A deals, down 61.5% quarter over quarter.

Large deal terminations

KKR & Co. Inc. had agreed to sell AppLovin Corp. to Unity Software Inc. in a $17.55 billion deal. This private equity-backed deal was the largest announced M&A deal in 2022 that was recently terminated.

U.K. education publisher Pearson PLC was at the center of the second-largest terminated deal in 2022, which also involved PE firm Apollo Global Management Inc. The proposed cash offer of $8.6 billion was unanimously rejected by Pearson's board.

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Among other terminated M&A deals with private equity or venture capital involvement in 2022, Australian utility AGL Energy Ltd. rejected a $5.64 billion takeover bid from a consortium of Australian venture capital firm Grok Ventures Pty. Ltd. and Canada's Brookfield Asset Management Inc.

The board of French information technology company Atos SE rejected a $4.1 billion offer to acquire its subsidiary Evidian SA by an investor group including Intermediate Capital Group PLC, Groupe Onepoint SA and ICG Enterprise Trust PLC.