Large-cap transactions accounted for 52% of deal value compared to 35% in the prior year. Public-to-private activity also increased by 67% as sponsors capitalised on valuation dislocations in the public markets. Credit conditions improved steadily, supported by default rates sitting near cycle lows and central bank rate cuts that eased broader financing conditions.
Exit activity strengthened markedly, with global volume surpassing $1 trillion for the first time since 2021 and initial public offerings (IPOs) recovering to their strongest levels outside the 2020–2021 peak. Assets increasingly sold at premiums to their carrying values, supporting a stronger case for increased realisations. Value creation was often attributed to revenue growth and operational improvement, rather than multiple expansion—reflecting an environment driven more by fundamental business building than macroeconomic tailwinds. However, the industry continues to work through a substantial backlog, with more than $3.7 trillion of assets held for longer than five years. As a result, General Partners (GPs) have increasingly turned to alternative liquidity mechanisms including continuation vehicles (CVs), which accounted for 14% of exit activity in 2025.
In contrast to dealmaking, fundraising remained constrained, declining 22% year-on-year and sitting more than 40% below the 2021 peak, as Limited Partners (LPs) focused their commitments on key relationships.
In 2025, ADIA's Private Equities Department (PED) maintained its integrated approach, acting as a capital solutions provider across direct investments, funds, and platforms. This multi-strategy presence, spanning buyouts, growth equity, private credit and venture capital, provides a distinctive vantage point on emerging developments, which continues to inform new deployment and portfolio management.
Through its platform initiative, PED partnered with multiple GPs to launch new strategies in the private equity space, notably in structured financing in the US and EMEA. The Department’s flexible capital approach also supported participation in select GP-led secondaries transactions, including single-asset CVs for high-quality portfolio companies, as well as acting as an anchor investor for a China-focused multi-asset portfolio managed by CDH Investments.
With exits becoming a core focus for the wider private equity industry, PED actively monetised positions through multiple channels during the year. The Department agreed the direct sale of its stake in Pension Insurance Corporation, a UK specialist insurer, and the sale of its stake in IFCO, a global packaging solutions provider. Furthermore, Medline, a leading healthcare supplies distributor held since 2018, successfully reached the public markets in what was the year’s largest IPO globally.
On the direct deployment side, PED continued to invest in high-quality businesses across its core sectors, taking advantage of increased digitisation of business processes, demographic shifts and supply chain reconfiguration. A prominent feature of the year was the Department’s activity in take-private transactions, in partnership with some of its core GPs, to capitalise on attractive valuations in certain sectors and pursue operational transformation away from public market pressures.
Technology remained a key priority, with an emphasis on enterprise software businesses positioned to benefit from AI integration and the digital transformation of core processes. Notable transactions included the take-private of Dayforce, a US-based HR software platform, and an investment in IFS, a European cloud software company specialising in industrial AI applications.
In healthcare, PED targeted businesses with exposure to non-discretionary demand and demographic tailwinds. In a notable transaction, the Department joined a consortium for the take-private of US-headquartered Hologic, gaining exposure to an international leader in mammography and molecular diagnostics. The team also backed Sebia, a French speciality diagnostics business focused on protein analysis for oncology and diabetes.
Industrial investments were directed toward businesses serving critical infrastructure and advanced manufacturing supply chains. Transactions included Alvest, a Paris-based leader in airport ground support equipment, SK Specialty, a South Korean provider of high-purity gases for semiconductor manufacturing, and Clarience Technologies, a US-based commercial vehicle safety platform.
Consumer activity focused on resilient demand segments, notably experiential leisure and consumer staples. Investments included European Camping Group, a pan-European outdoor hospitality operator, and an expanded stake in Froneri, the global ice cream manufacturer, executed concurrently with a GP-led liquidity process.
Throughout the portfolio, the Department continues to assess how artificial intelligence will reshape value creation across private markets, both as a source of disruption and as an operational enabler. PED remains focused on investing in sectors and transactions where operational complexity and scale favour patient, solutions-oriented capital.
