Fears of a global recession and rising inflation are continuing to take a toll on the value and volume of private equity and venture capital deals.

Global private equity and venture capital entries in September plunged 60.7% to $34.91 billion from $89.02 billion in the same month in 2021, according to S&P Global Market Intelligence data. On a month-over-month basis, the total deal value dropped 17.3%.

The number of deals announced in September went down 33.1% to 1,215 from 1,817 a year ago. The total deal value for the third quarter stood at $118.42 billion, compared with $281.75 billion in the same period in 2021.

A recent Preqin report suggests "the sweet spot that private equity markets have enjoyed over the last few years is likely over."

* Download a spreadsheet with data featured in this story. * Read about global venture capital investments in September. * Explore more private equity coverage.

North America maintains lead

The U.S. and Canada continued to dominate entries in September, with deal value totaling $14.98 billion across 403 transactions. Europe and Asia-Pacific followed with 378 deals totaling $9.51 billion and 377 transactions aggregating $9.17 billion, respectively.

TMT accounts for largest deal share

The technology, media and telecommunications sector attracted the most capital from private equity and venture capital firms in September with $13.05 billion in total transaction value. It was followed by the energy and utilities sector with $8.09 billion and the consumer industry with $3.39 billion.

Top deals of September

EIG Global Energy Partners' planned acquisition of a 25% stake in Repsol Upstream, a newly created exploration and production company comprising Repsol SA's global upstream oil and gas business, for about $4.8 billion was the largest deal of the month. The transaction, which was announced Sept. 7, is expected to close within the next six months.

For the second biggest deal of the month, Vista Equity Partners Management LLC agreed to acquire security awareness training platform KnowBe4 Inc. in an all-cash deal worth roughly $4.6 billion. The deal could close during the first six months of 2023.