Over the past 40 years, private equity has evolved from a niche alternative asset class centered on leveraged buyouts into a global industry, with asset managers now pursuing diversified, multi‑asset strategies and with assets under management projected to reach $12 trillion. The industry has continually adapted in response to disruption, evolving from an early model built on financial engineering to one focused on operational value creation. As private equity emerges from a period of muted capital deployment and deferred exits, it now stands at another inflection point defined by increasingly sophisticated capital solutions.
Explore Akin’s perspectives for a closer look at the trends influencing today’s transactions and the considerations that will define the next generation of private equity deals, including topics such as artificial intelligence, co-investments, health care, policy, trade and geopolitics, sports, transportation and more.
In a dynamic and often unpredictable geopolitical environment, private equity funds must pay ever closer attention to the actions and intentions of governments and policymakers around the world.
Antitrust, Competition & Cross-Border Investment
As anticipated, the Trump administration brought a more favorable antitrust climate for dealmaking than under the Biden administration.
With deal activity improving gradually through 2025, private equity funds keen to deploy capital and control portfolio company costs drove several months of record repayments on leveraged loans and historically high levels of dividend recapitalizations.
While technology remained a popular target industry for private equity investors in 2025, nervousness around valuations meant dealflow in certain parts of the market was slower than expected.
Private equity investors in health care and life sciences are accustomed to navigating a complex and shifting regulatory and policy environment, and 2025 put those capabilities into sharp focus.
The number of limited partners looking for co-investment opportunities alongside their private equity GPs continues to grow and going into 2026 we have already seen an increase in co-investment activity.
GP Stakes Investing in a Maturing Market
GP stakes and GP M&A transactions reached record levels in 2025, with deal volume increasing 40% year-on-year.
Despite an uncertain economic and consumer backdrop throughout 2025, private equity activity in the food and agriculture sector picked up throughout the year.
While the exit markets are beginning to show signs of reopening as we move through the first quarter of 2026, GPs dealing with a backlog of unsold assets and the need to return capital to investors are still on the hunt for liquidity solutions.
One of the hottest areas for escalating private equity investment in 2025 was the defense industry, as buyout firms that had traditionally steered clear of an industry fraught with both geopolitical and public perception risk sensed a growing opportunity.
While private equity investors continue to be attracted to the reliable non-cyclical returns associated with transportation assets, several headwinds over the past 12 months served to dampen M&A activity in the sector in 2025.
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