European private debt volumes reached record high of €68.7bn in 2024
European private debt volumes reached an all-time high of €68.7bn (£57.5bn) last year, up from €57.4bn in 2023.
According to Deloitte’s Private Debt Deals Tracker, this was driven by strong activity in the second half of the year.
Of the 855 deals recorded for 2024, 379 took place in the first half of the year, and 476 were in the second half of the year. The tracker reported that deal activity was up by 41 per cent year-on-year, after just 605 debt deals were recorded in 2023.
Read more: UK Finance calls for closer links in private and public markets
Deloitte added that a “remarkable” 268 deals were completed in the fourth quarter of 2024, a 29 per cent increase on the previous quarter. This surpassed all previous quarterly records monitored by the tracker.
During the second half of 2024, the UK led the way in terms of deal volume, with 137 deals. This was followed by France with 116 deals, and Germany with 55 deals.
Read more: Duke Capital predicts 12pc Q4 revenue rise
“For the most part, the uptick in activity suggests a broader positive shift in market sentiment, driven by increasing investor confidence, pent-up demand from investors with significant dry powder, and a favourable declining interest rate environment,” the report stated.
36 per cent of last year’s deal activity was due to bolt-on acquisitions, while 34 per cent involved leveraged buyouts, and 18 per cent was refinancings.
Most deals remained M&A focused in 2024, with 69 per cent of activity revolving around an acquisition, Deloitte said. Only around 10 per cent of 2024’s deals did not involve a private equity sponsored asset.
The tracker noted that there has also been steady trend in terms of the number of deals related to sports – this rose to 24 per cent of total deals in 2024, up from 20 per cent in 2023. Almost half (48 per cent) of all investment by volume was channelled into European sports assets in 2024.
Read more: Private credit market set for significant growth in 2025
