Despite choppy deal markets, EMEA public-to-private transaction activity has barely skipped a beat, with M&A dealmakers finding compelling investment opportunities across the region’s stock markets.

During the last decade at least 1,013 European companies, worth more than US$1 trillion, have been taken private by private equity sponsors, according to research from HSBC and the think tank New Financial.

Outside of Europe, stock market delistings are also on the up. The largest stock market in Africa, The Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE), for example, has seen the number of companies listed on its boards decline by around 38% during the last 20 years, according to data compiled by Merchant West Investments. French TV company CANAL+’s acquisition of broadcaster MultiChoiceis a recent example of a high profile South African take private deal.

Tracking global trends

The rising volume of delistings and take privates mirrors international trends, with the numbers of listed companies in steady decline.

Schroders analysis shows that the number of public companies in the US has dropped 40% since 1996. In the UK, during the same period, listed company volumes have fallen 60%, while Germany has seen its public company numbers slide by 40% since 2007.

A combination of factors have coalesced to accelerate take private deals and delisting deals.

The growth the of the private capital ecosystem has been one of the biggest drivers. In Europe alone private equity assets under management have more than doubled during the last decade. This has made private ownership a feasible alternative to trading publicly, as the capital pools in private markets are now of the required scale to support the financial requirements of mature companies that previously would have had to turn to public markets to meet their capital needs.

Private ownership, with a single or small consortium of shareholders, has also appealed to management teams, who have faced intensifying scrutiny, regulation and conflicting investor demands when leading listed companies. 

Under private equity ownership it is easier for boards and management teams to align interests with their financial backers, rather than trying to cater to the wide-ranging demands of public shareholder bases, where investors will usually have differing objectives, returns expectations, and investment horizons. 

Recent macroeconomic dislocation has exacerbated these pressures and opened up opportunities for private equity dealmakers to arbitrage stock market volatility and acquire listed companies at attractive entry valuations.

Stock markets have been choppy through the course of 2025, with the VIX, an index tracking volatility, hitting its highest levels since the pandemic in April 2025 amidst US tariff uncertainty. This led to unpredictable share price movements, with company stock prices impacted not by underlying business performance, but short-term macroeconomic instability. Private equity firms able to take a longer view have been able to step in and acquire assets at appealing prices in these market dips.

The high levels of sponsor-backed take privates have been particularly noticeable in Europe, where stock prices have traded at discount to US peers. According to Bloomberg, discounts between European and US stocks can be as wide at 35%, which has encouraged investment from US buyout firms that see the European market offering excellent value when compared to the US domestic options.

A changing dynamic

High profile take privates are expected to remain a key driver of M&A in the months ahead, with a Bloomberg straw poll of risk arbitrage desks identifying a number European listed businesses that have been tipped as potential takeover targets, ranging from natural resources and energy companies to retailers and financial services firms.

Public markets, however, are not going to disappear. Private equity firms themselves still depend on the depth and liquidity of public markets to exit portfolio companies, and although many companies may be staying private for longer, an IPO still offers opportunity to raise capital at incredibly attractive valuations, not to mention the branding and visibility benefits associated with trading publicly.

Stock exchanges and regulators are not complacent either. In the US and UK regulators are reviewing listing regimes to ease compliance and reporting burdens and make it easier to go public, while in Europe political leaders are calling for the formation of a single European stock exchange to deepen liquidity and investor participation in public equity markets.

Private equity firms are not going to stop running the rule over listed companies in search of bargains, but while the dynamic between public and private ownership may have shifted as private equity has grown, the public company model will remain a crucial lever for capital formation and investment.