Dry Powder: The Private Equity Podcast Bain & Company’s Global Private Equity Report 2026: Executive Summary
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Feb 23, 2026 A brisk walkthrough of Bain’s 2026 private equity numbers and whether rising totals mask deeper shifts. The conversation highlights fewer but larger deals, flat fundraising with buyouts under pressure, and why infrastructure and secondaries drew capital. Listeners hear about higher growth needed for target returns, rising costs and fee pressure, and strategic priorities like talent, sourcing and speed-to-value.
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Large Deals Drove 2025 Numbers
- Private equity showed large headline gains in 2025 driven by very large transactions rather than broad deal activity.
- $900B in deals was second only to 2021, yet deal count fell ~6% and 13 deals over $10B (including a $57B EA take-private) concentrated capital.
Exit Dollars Mask Uneven Liquidity
- Exits were strong in headline dollars but squeezed for many managers because a few megadeals dominated liquidity.
- Over $700B of exits in 2025, yet exit counts fell ~2% and many GPs lacked the large exits that returned cash to LPs.
Buyout Fundraising Remains Under Strain
- Fundraising looked flat at $1.3T in 2025 overall but buyout fundraising fell sharply.
- Buyout fundraising dropped 16% because distributions-to-NAV stayed below 15% for the fourth straight year, constraining LPs' ability to recommit.