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10 Deals that Defined Private Markets in 2025

  • Market commentary

December 17, 2025 | 6 min read

Scott Voss

Managing Director, Senior Market Strategist

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In 2025, private markets saw a resurgence of large-scale transactions across geographies and asset classes, signaling renewed confidence despite lingering macroeconomic volatility. Dealmaking coalesced across the US, Europe, and Asia, with each region contributing distinct dynamics. Activity spanned the full spectrum—venture capital, buyouts, private credit, infrastructure, and mega take-privates—often blending strategies as firms sought flexible capital solutions. Across all categories, sponsors prioritized scale, platform-building, and long-duration assets, reflecting a strategic shift from opportunistic plays to thematic investing anchored in technology enablement, agility, and recurring revenue models.

1. Electronic Arts (EA) historic take-private deal

In potentially the largest leveraged buyout in history, a consortium led by US-based firms Silver Lake and Affinity Partners, along with Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF), plans to acquire EA in an all-cash deal valued at $55 billion. The consortium would commit approximately $36 billion in equity, with JPMorgan Chase fully committing and underwriting $20 billion in leveraged loans and high-yield bonds—the largest debt package ever arranged by one bank for an LBO.1

Implication: This deal underscores renewed confidence and appetite for scale in private markets, signaling that investors are willing to deploy record-setting capital and embrace complex cross-border transactions even amid macroeconomic uncertainty.

2. Walgreens acquisition by Sycamore

Sycamore Partners acquired Walgreens Boots Alliance to restructure the company for enhanced operational efficiency and to focus on high-margin healthcare services, aiming to transform it into a more agile entity in the retail pharmacy sector. This take-private acquisition is a $23.7 billion leveraged buyout, financed with approximately $18.2 billion in debt, comprising structured ABL, term loans, bridge facilities, receivables financing, and preferred equity.2

Implication: This acquisition signals that private markets retain strong appetite for large, complex take-private transactions, even amid elevated leverage and macroeconomic uncertainty.

3. Verisure – Europe’s largest PE–backed IPO ever

As Europe’s largest PE-backed IPO of all time and the continent’s largest IPO in three years,3 the security services provider raised approximately €3.2 billion and was valued at €13.7 billion. The company grew significantly under private equity ownership since 2008, and its journey through various stages, most recently as part of a continuation vehicle, represents a major liquidity event for its long-time owner, EQT. The scale and structure of the IPO could influence how other PE-backed firms approach exits.

Implication: The successful Verisure IPO demonstrates robust investor confidence in European capital markets and signals that private equity-backed firms can achieve substantial liquidity events, encouraging further large-scale private market exits.

4. Bain Capital’s acquisition of York Holdings

Bain Capital’s ¥810 billion (US $5.5 billion) acquisition of York Holdings from Seven & i Holdings is a landmark transaction for Asia’s PE market. While some of Japan’s largest PE deals have been in industrials and technology, York represents the largest consumer carve-out in the nation’s history.4 This was a highly complex transaction—potentially raising execution risk—that carves out 29 subsidiaries from a listed corporation and consolidates them under a single platform.

Implication: The deal highlights the trend of Japanese-listed conglomerates, under increasing pressure from public investors, selling off non-core, underutilized assets to focus on their primary businesses.

5. Alphabet’s $32 billion acquisition of Wiz

Alphabet Inc. is making a major move in cybersecurity by acquiring Wiz through an all-cash deal worth $32 billion set to finalize in 2026 that will see Wiz become part of Google Cloud. This purchase aims to strengthen Alphabet’s cybersecurity offerings and grow its cloud services—but, could spark more M&A activity across the tech sector, especially in cybersecurity. This is one of the first major deals under FTC Chair Andrew Ferguson, testing the agency’s current stance on Big Tech M&A.5

Implication: This transaction marks an important milestone in today’s regulatory climate and potentially shapes future Big Tech mergers and acquisitions.

6. Aligned Data Centers – the largest data center deal in history

Valued at approximately $40 billion, the acquisition of Aligned Data Centers by a consortium of investors highlights the push to meet global AI power demands and scale AI infrastructure. The purchasing group, which includes such names as BlackRock, Nvidia, and Microsoft, intends to deploy $30 billion of equity capital at the outset, and the deal could potentially reach $100 billion, including debt.6 The deal for Aligned, which currently operates in the US and Latin America, is scheduled to close in H1 2026.

Implication: This deal signals strong investor interest in large-scale infrastructure projects supporting AI growth, demonstrating a willingness to back transformative deals with substantial capital commitments to meet rising global technology demands.

7. OpenAI’s flurry of dealmaking

In March 2025, OpenAI secured a major private funding round worth $40 billion—the largest ever for a tech company—raising its valuation to approximately $300 billion. Later, in October, OpenAI completed a $6.6 billion secondary share sale, enabling current and former employees to sell shares without needing an IPO. This move also helped the company retain key staff and pushed its valuation up to $500 billion, surpassing SpaceX as the world’s highest-valued private tech enterprise,7 at least for now. In December, OpenAI took an ownership stake in Thrive Holdings, a partnership meant to embed and accelerate AI adoption in Thrive’s portfolio companies, further raising questions related to the circular nature of Open AI’s deal-making strategy.

Implication: In addition to further demonstrating investors’ enthusiasm for large-scale capital deployment and innovation-driven growth, OpenAI’s investments encourage further high-profile liquidity events and secondary transactions.

8. New York City pension system secondary sale

Finalized in May, the New York City pension system’s $5 billion PE secondary sale ranks among the largest LP-led secondary sales to a single buyer (Blackstone) in US history.8 The complex process involved nearly 80 private equity managers, over 125 distinct funds, and approximately 450 individual commitments. Unlike secondary deals driven primarily by liquidity needs, the key objective of this sale was to strategically realign the pension systems’ private equity portfolio, supporting long-term performance and retirement security for more than 750,000 public employees.

Implication: The transaction reflects increasing interest in secondary market opportunities during a period of reduced private equity exits.

9. Meta and Blue Owl – largest-ever private capital deal

In another instance of a large tech company pursuing lofty AI ambitions, Meta and Blue Owl Capital have forged a $27 billion joint venture to fund the development of its giant Hyperion data center project in Louisiana—marking the largest private credit deal ever.9 Hyperion is projected to deliver more than 2 gigawatts of compute capacity to support training of large language models, the technology behind tools such as ChatGPT and Google Gemini.

Implication: This joint venture introduces a new model in big-tech infrastructure finance: combining equity infusion and private credit debt, enabling Meta to support its AI/data center ambitions while transferring substantial upfront capital and risk to Blue Owl and bond investors.

10. Starbucks and Burger King joint ventures in China

Starbucks has formed a joint venture with Boyu Capital to operate its retail business in China, with Boyu acquiring a 60% stake for approximately $4 billion.10 Starbucks retains 40% and continues to own the brand and IP. Meanwhile, CPE Holdings will invest $350 million to expand Burger King’s presence in China. Both deals are expected to close in the first half of 2026.

Implication: These transactions reflect optimism surrounding the willingness to commit capital into China’s consumer sector, while the use of hybrid arrangements—equity, debt, licensing, and LP fundraising—demonstrate increased financial innovation in China.

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2026 dealmaking outlook

The outlook for private markets dealmaking activity in 2026 is broadly positive, with several indicators pointing to increased momentum and opportunity across regions. Lower interest rates, improved liquidity, and a narrowing valuation gap are bolstering dealmaking confidence among both GPs and LPs. Globally, deal values have surged and exit numbers have improved, and the trend is expected to continue into 2026 as markets stabilize and capital becomes more accessible. However, investors should remain mindful of several risks as they navigate the private markets landscape in 2026. Downside risks persist, including ongoing geopolitical tensions (such as conflicts in Ukraine and the Middle East, and US-China relations), the potential lingering effects of trade uncertainty and tariffs, and the possibility of renewed macroeconomic shocks. As such, investors should approach the year with a balanced perspective—capitalizing on opportunities driven by innovation, liquidity improvements, and expanding investor access, while remaining vigilant regarding macroeconomic, geopolitical, and sector-specific risks.

Footnotes
  1. Electronic Arts press release, “EA Announces Agreement to be Acquired by PIF, Silver Lake, and Affinity Partners for $55 Billion,” September 29, 2025.
  2. Pitchbook, “Walgreens Boots Alliance LBO backed by $18B of debt,” March 12, 2025.
  3. Pitchbook, “Verisure goes public in oversubscribed IPO, Europe’s largest since 2022,” October 8, 2025.
  4. Ion Analytics, “Bain Capital on carve-outs, take-privates in Japan’s expanding buyout space,” June 23, 2025.
  5. Investopedia, “Google Parent Alphabet Strikes $32B Deal to Buy Cybersecurity Firm Wiz,” March 18, 2025.
  6. Reuters, “Aligned Data Centers in spotlight after $40 billion sale to BlackRock, Nvidia-backed group,” October 15, 2025.
  7. CNBC, “OpenAI wraps $6.6 billion share sale at $500 billion valuation,” October 2, 2025.
  8. Pitchbook, “NYC pensions finalize $5B secondary sale to Blackstone,” May 27, 2025.
  9. Morningstar, “Meta, Blue Owl and AI: Here are the details of Wall Street’s biggest private-credit deal ever.”
  10. Starbucks Coffee Company press release, “Starbucks and Boyu Announce Joint Venture for the Next Chapter of Growth in China,” November 3, 2025.
Disclosure

This material is solely for informational purposes and should not be viewed as a current or past recommendation or an offer to sell or the solicitation to buy securities or adopt any investment strategy.  The opinions expressed herein represent the current, good faith views of the author(s) at the time of publication, are not definitive investment advice, and should not be relied upon as such. This material has been developed internally and/or obtained from sources believed to be reliable; however, HarbourVest does not guarantee the accuracy, adequacy or completeness of such information. There is no assurance that any events or projections will occur, and outcomes may be significantly different than the opinions shown here.  This information, including any projections concerning financial market performance, is based on current market conditions, which will fluctuate and may be superseded by subsequent market events or for other reasons. A reference to a specific company does not constitute a recommendation to invest nor an indication that HarbourVest funds or accounts hold any specific company.

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Professional Investor Definition

“Professional Investor” under the Securities and Futures Ordinance (Cap. 571 of the Laws of Hong Kong) (the “SFO”) and its subsidiary legislation) means:

(a) any recognised exchange company, recognised clearing house, recognised exchange controller or recognised investor compensation company, or any person authorised to provide automated trading services under section 95(2) of the SFO;

(b) any intermediary, or any other person carrying on the business of the provision of investment services and regulated under the law of any place outside Hong Kong;

(c) any authorized financial institution, or any bank which is not an authorised financial institution but is regulated under the law of any place outside Hong Kong;

(d) any insurer authorized under the Insurance Ordinance (Cap. 41 of the Laws of Hong Kong), or any other person carrying on insurance business and regulated under the law of any place outside Hong Kong;

(e) any scheme which-

(i) is a collective investment scheme authorised under section 104 of the SFO; or

(ii) is similarly constituted under the law of any place outside Hong Kong and, if it is regulated under the law of such place, is permitted to be operated under the law of such place,

or any person by whom any such scheme is operated;

(f) any registered scheme as defined in section 2(1) of the Mandatory Provident Fund Schemes Ordinance (Cap. 485 of the Laws of Hong Kong), or its constituent fund as defined in section 2 of the Mandatory Provident Fund Schemes (General) Regulation (Cap. 485A of the Laws of Hong Kong), or any person who, in relation to any such registered scheme, is an approved trustee or service provider as defined in section 2(1) of that Ordinance or who is an investment manager of any such registered scheme or constituent fund;

(g) any scheme which-

(i) is a registered scheme as defined in section 2(1) of the Occupational Retirement Schemes Ordinance (Cap. 426 of the Laws of Hong Kong); or

(ii) is an offshore scheme as defined in section 2(1) of that Ordinance and, if it is regulated under the law of the place in which it is domiciled, is permitted to be operated under the law of such place,

or any person who, in relation to any such scheme, is an administrator as defined in section 2(1) of that Ordinance;

(h) any government (other than a municipal government authority), any institution which performs the functions of a central bank, or any multilateral agency;

(i) except for the purposes of Schedule 5 to the SFO, any corporation which is-

(i) a wholly owned subsidiary of-

(A) an intermediary, or any other person carrying on the business of the provision of investment services and regulated under the law of any place outside Hong Kong; or

(B) an authorized financial institution, or any bank which is not an authorised financial institution but is regulated under the law of any place outside Hong Kong;

(ii) a holding company which holds all the issued share capital of-

(A) an intermediary, or any other person carrying on the business of the provision of investment services and regulated under the law of any place outside Hong Kong; or

(B) an authorized financial institution, or any bank which is not an authorised financial institution but is regulated under the law of any place outside Hong Kong; or

(iii) any other wholly owned subsidiary of a holding company referred to in subparagraph (ii); or

(j) any person of a class which is prescribed by rules made under section 397 of the SFO for the purposes of this paragraph as within the meaning of this definition for the purposes of the provisions of the SFO, or to the extent that it is prescribed by rules so made as within the meaning of this definition for the purposes of any provision of the SFO.

The first of such classes of additional “professional investor”, under the Securities and Futures (Professional Investor) Rules (Cap. 571D of the Laws of Hong Kong), are:

(k) any trust corporation (registered under Part VIII of the Trustee Ordinance (Cap. 29 of the Laws of Hong Kong) or the equivalent overseas) having been entrusted under the trust or trusts of which it acts as a trustee with total assets of not less than HK$40 million or its equivalent in any foreign currency at the relevant date (see below) or-

(i) as stated in the most recent audited financial statement prepared-

(A) in respect of the trust corporation; and

(B) within 16 months before the relevant date;

(ii) as ascertained by referring to one or more audited financial statements, each being the most recent audited financial statement, prepared-

(A) in respect of the trust or any of the trust; and

(B) within 16 months before the relevant date; or

(iii) as ascertained by referring to one or more custodian (see below) statements issued to the trust corporation-

(A) in respect of the trust or any of the trusts; and

(B) within 12 months before the relevant date;

(l) any individual, either alone or with any of his associates (the spouse or any child) on a joint account, having a portfolio (see below) of not less than HK$8 million or its equivalent in any foreign currency at the relevant date or-

(i) as stated in a certificate issued by an auditor or a certified public accountant of the individual within 12 months before the relevant date; or

(ii)  as ascertained by referring to one or more custodian statements issued to the individual (either alone or with the associate) within 12 months before the relevant date;

(m) any corporation or partnership having-

(i) a portfolio of not less than HK$8 million or its equivalent in any foreign currency; or

(ii) total assets of not less than HK$40 million or its equivalent in any foreign currency, at the relevant date, or as ascertained by referring to-

(iii) the most recent audited financial statement prepared-

(A) in respect of the corporation or partnership (as the case may be); and

(B) within 16 months before the relevant date; or

(iv) one or more custodian statements issued to the corporation or partnership (as the case may be) within 12 months before the relevant date; and

(n) any corporation the sole business of which is to hold investments and which at the relevant date is wholly owned by any one or more of the following persons-

(i) a trust corporation that falls within the description in paragraph (k);

(ii) an individual who, either alone or with any of his or her associates on a joint account, falls within the description in paragraph (k);

(iii) a corporation that falls within the description in paragraph (m);

(iv) a partnership that falls within the description in paragraph (m).

For the purposes of paragraphs (k) to (n) above:

  • “relevant date” means the date on which the advertisement, invitation or document (made in respect of securities or structured products or interests in any collective investment scheme, which is intended to be disposed of only to professional investors), is issued, or possessed for the purposes of issue;
  • “custodian” means (i) a corporation whose principal business is to act as a securities custodian, or (ii) an authorised financial institution under the Banking Ordinance (Cap. 155 of the Laws of Hong Kong); an overseas bank; a corporation licensed under the SFO; or an overseas financial intermediary, whose business includes acting as a custodian; and
  • “portfolio” means a portfolio comprising any of the following (i) securities; (ii) certificates of deposit issued by an authorised financial institution under the Banking Ordinance (Cap, 155 of the Laws of Hong Kong) or an overseas bank; and (iii) except for trust corporations, cash held by a custodian.

Institutional Investor / Accredited Investor Definition

An institutional investor as defined in Section 4A of the SFA and Securities and Futures (Classes of Investors) Regulations 2018 is:

(a) the Singapore Government;

(b) a statutory board as may be prescribed by regulations made under section 341 of the SFA, as prescribed in the Second Schedule of the Securities and Futures (Classes of Investors) Regulations 2018;

(c) an entity that is wholly and beneficially owned, whether directly or indirectly, by a central government of a country and whose principal activity is —

(i) to manage its own funds;

(ii) to manage the funds of the central government of that country (which may include the reserves of that central government and any pension or provident fund of that country); or

(iii) to manage the funds (which may include the reserves of that central government and any pension or provident fund of that country) of another entity that is wholly and beneficially owned, whether directly or indirectly, by the central government of that country;

(d) any entity —

(i) that is wholly and beneficially owned, whether directly or indirectly, by the central government of a country; and

(ii) whose funds are managed by an entity mentioned in sub‑paragraph (c);

(e) a bank that is licensed under the Banking Act 1970;

(f) a merchant bank that is licensed under the Banking Act 1970;

(g) a finance company that is licensed under the Finance Companies Act 1967;

(h) a company or co‑operative society that is licensed under the Insurance Act 1966 to carry on insurance business in Singapore;

(i) a company licensed under the Trust Companies Act 2005;

(j) a holder of a capital markets services licence;

(k) an approved exchange;

(l) a recognised market operator;

(m) an approved clearing house;

(n) a recognised clearing house;

(o) a licensed trade repository;

(p) a licensed foreign trade repository;

(q) an approved holding company;

(r) a Depository as defined in section 81SF of the SFA;

(s) a pension fund, or collective investment scheme, whether constituted in Singapore or elsewhere;

(t) a person (other than an individual) who carries on the business of dealing in bonds with accredited investors or expert investors;

(u) a designated market‑maker as defined in paragraph 1 of the Second Schedule to the Securities and Futures (Licensing and Conduct of Business) Regulations;

(v) a headquarters company or Finance and Treasury Centre which carries on a class of business involving fund management, where such business has been approved as a qualifying service in relation to that headquarters company or Finance and Treasury Centre under section 43D(2)(a) or 43E(2)(a) of the Income Tax Act 1947;

(w) a person who undertakes fund management activity (whether in Singapore or elsewhere) on behalf of not more than 30 qualified investors;

(x) a Service Company (as defined in regulation 2 of the Insurance (Lloyd’s Asia Scheme) Regulations) which carries on business as an agent of a member of Lloyd’s;

(y) a corporation the entire share capital of which is owned by an institutional investor or by persons all of whom are institutional investors;

(z) a partnership (other than a limited liability partnership within the meaning of the Limited Liability Partnerships Act 2005) in which each partner is an institutional investor.

An accredited investor as defined in Section 4A of the SFA and Securities and Futures (Classes of Investors) Regulations 2018 is:

(i)  an individual —

(A) whose net personal assets exceed in value $2 million (or its equivalent in a foreign currency) or such other amount as the Authority may prescribe in place of the first amount;

(B) whose financial assets (net of any related liabilities) exceed in value $1 million (or its equivalent in a foreign currency) or such other amount as the Authority may prescribe in place of the first amount, where “financial asset” means —

(BA) a deposit as defined in section 4B of the Banking Act 1970;

(BB) an investment product as defined in section 2(1) of the Financial Advisers Act 2001; or

(BC) any other asset as may be prescribed by regulations made under section 341; or

(C) whose income in the preceding 12 months is not less than $300,000 (or its equivalent in a foreign currency) or such other amount as the Authority may prescribe in place of the first amount;

(ii)  a corporation with net assets exceeding $10 million in value (or its equivalent in a foreign currency) or such other amount as the Authority may prescribe, in place of the first amount, as determined by —

(A) the most recent audited balance sheet of the corporation; or

(B) where the corporation is not required to prepare audited accounts regularly, a balance sheet of the corporation certified by the corporation as giving a true and fair view of the state of affairs of the corporation as of the date of the balance sheet, which date must be within the preceding 12 months;

(iii) A trustee of a trust which all the beneficiaries are accredited investors; or

(iv) A trustee of a trust which the subject matter exceeds S$10 million; or

(v) An entity (other than a corporation) with net assets exceeding S$10 million (or its equivalent in a foreign currency) in value. “Entity” includes an unincorporated association, a partnership and the government of any state, but does not include a trust; or

(vi) A partnership (other than a limited liability partnership) in which every partner is an accredited investor; or

(vii) A corporation which the entire share capital is owned by one or more persons, all of whom are accredited investors.

Continuation solutions encompass a host of transaction types in which a GP secures interim liquidity and/or additional primary capital for their LPs in a strongly performing asset, or set of assets, that the GP will continue to own and control. Specifically, they include continuation funds, new funds created by GPs for the purpose of acquiring the asset(s) that continue to be managed by the same GP and capitalized by one or several secondary buyers, or equity recapitalizations involving a direct equity or structured equity investment into a portfolio company. These transactions can also include a parallel investment from the GP’s latest fund into that same pool of assets (a “cross-fund trade”).