- Global PE investment totals $537.1 billion during Q3’25
- PE deal volume rises from 3,769 deals globally in Q2’25 to 4,062 in Q3’25
- US sees $300.2 billion in PE investment in Q3’25 – more than half of global total
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In Q3’25, global PE- announced deals amounted to $537.1B across 4,062 transactions.
Global highlights of Q3’25
Megadeals keep global PE market buoyant despite slide in deal volume
PE investment globally reached $537 billion in Q3’25 — somewhat higher than Q3’24’s $512 billion, despite a significant slowdown in deal activity; Q3’25 saw just 4,062 deals compared to 5,070 during Q3’24. The buoyant deal value reflects the growing focus on PE investors on large, high-quality deals. After three quarters, global PE investment sat at $1.5 trillion for 2025 — well positioned to exceed the investment levels seen over the last three years.
Americas — dominated by the US — attracts biggest deals, largest share of global PE funding
The Americas region attracted $322.9 billion across 1,977 deals in Q3’25 — over 60 percent of global PE deal value during the quarter. The US accounted for the vast majority of this total ($300.1 billion across 1,791 deals). Notably, the largest three deals in the US, all public to private buyouts, contributed $95.3 billion to this total, including Electronic Arts ($56.4 billion), Air Lease ($28.2 billion), and Dayforce (12.4 billion). This highlights the major impact of sizable megadeals — or the lack thereof — on both regional and global PE investment flows. Looking at the quarter’s results without these outlier deals paints suggests a somewhat less rosy picture.
In comparison, the EMA region saw $178.3 billion in PE investment across 1,736 deals during Q3’25. The secondary buyout of Pension Insurance Corporation for $7.7 billion was the largest deal in the region during the quarter, followed by the $6.4 billion public to private deal for UK-based Spectris by Advent; this deal superseded the one by KKR that was announced earlier in 2025. In Asia, PE investment totaled $30.6 billion across 253 deals in Q3’25, led by the buyout of Australia-based Insignia Financial for $2.1 billion and public to private buyout of China-based Hangzhou Kangji Medical Instruments for $1.4 billion.
Outside of megadeals, caution still a key theme for PE investors
While global PE investment has been visibly strong this quarter, a large share of this total investment has been driven by a small number of very large megadeals. Looking beyond those deals, the reality is that PE investors continue to be quite cautious — only going after the highest-quality assets where they have the conviction that they will be able to achieve their desired returns. The steep decline in deal volume between Q3’24 and Q3’25 in all three key jurisdictions highlights the impact of evolving geopolitical tensions and trade uncertainties on deal making more broadly, with many PE investors holding back from broadscale dealmaking while certain uncertainties persist. Similarly, despite pockets of incredibly robust PE investments, the PE market as a whole has not fully come back yet. While the increasing conviction of PE investors is promising, the market needs to see further deal activity — and exits — before it can be considered healthily active again.
Geographical diversification becoming important in new world order
PE deals with cross border participation have been strong in 2025, contributing $750 billion in deal value across 4,849 deals as of the end of Q3’25, well ahead of 2024’s results and just shy of the pace required to match the high of $1.1 trillion seen in 2021. The strong contribution of global PE investors likely reflects a number of factors, including the search for high-quality and resilient assets wherever they might be found.
The increasing polarization of geographies, the growing trend towards de-globalization of economies, and a surge in focus on building domestic industries has also led to an increasing belief that in order to sell into domestic markets, companies need to have domestic assets. This has led some PE investors to diversity their investments and the supplier base of their portfolio companies in order to get closer to target markets.
Global fundraising activity remains very subdued
Annual global fundraising activity continued to be very slow in Q3’25, with just 393 new funds raised as of the end of Q3’25 — the slowest pace of fundraising seen in a decade. Fundraising value was also very low, with just $314.1 billion; at the current pace, annual fundraising value will likely be the lowest seen since 2018. Of the funds raised this year, 78 percent have been at the $1 billion+ level, driven primarily by large global PE firms.
Trends to watch for in Q4’25
Looking ahead to Q4’25 and beyond, PE market activity is expected to improve, driven both by improving macroeconomic conditions, such as declining interest rates. The reopening of IPO markets in the US and Asia is also expected to help, providing parallel exit tracks for some long-held assets. Although the exit environment is not expected to turn around over night given the vast amount of capital currently locked up in the market.
At a sector level, AI is expected to drive a significant amount of PE investment over the next few quarters as PE investors look to make inroads into the space, primarily on the AI infrastructure side. The upswell of investment by governments into areas like defense, infrastructure, and technology autonomy is also expected to encourage PE investment into these spaces — although it might take some time for this trend to materialize.
Pulse of Private Equity Q3’25
A KPMG quarterly analysis of global private equity activity.
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Andrew Thompson
Head of Deal Advisory, Head of Transaction Services, Head of Private Equity and Sovereign Wealth, Asia Pacific
KPMG in Singapore