EUROPEAN PE MARKET – Q3 2024: CONTRASTED DYNAMICS, WITH POSITIVE SIGNALS IN FRANCE AND IN THE CLEANTECH PE SEGMENT

From a general perspective, most European GPs are still on a defensive position, investing more in their existing portfolio rather than in new companies:

Such a portfolio-priority mindset will probably keep going in Europe, since the PE exit activity is still slowly decreasing both in volume and value compared to the 2022-2023 trend:

However, the French PE market might follow a different trend since:

• The cumulative exit value was stable in H1 2024, led by the rise of deals over €50m (19 in H1 2024 compared to 11 in H1 2023), even if the total deal count is decreasing.
• The total amount fundraised by GPs has increased by 10% compared to H1 2023, reaching €9.5Bn, in line with the H1 average from 2018 to 2024. This rise i) is underpinned by the 61% increase of subscriptions from funds of funds, mainly internationals ii) covers vehicles below €1Bn, and namely between €100m and €1Bn[1].

The European Cleantech market is contrasted, since the Venture Capital segment has been plummeting while the PE value has been increasing:

[1] Source: France Invest & Grant Thornton, Activité des acteurs français du capital investissement