Private equity firms invested nearly 90% more capital in 2010 than they did in 2009, according to year-end data from Thomson Reuters.
Overall, private equity firms invested around $225 billion in 3,380 transactions last year, compared to $119 billion in 2,818 deals for 2009. Nearly half of the 2010 dollars went to North and South American companies. Europe placed second with a 35.5% market share, followed by Asia-Pacific (excluding Japan) with a 12.5% stake.
The year’s largest deal was the (still-pending) $5.13 billion acquisition of Del Monte Foods by Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co., Vestar Capital Partners and Centerview Partners. It was followed up by a deal for British engineering and manufacturing company Tompkins PLC, which was bought for over $4.6 billion by Onex Partners and Canada Pension Plan Investment Board.
The rest of the top five is rounded out by Burger King Holdings ($3.94 billion), Extended Stay Americas ($3.93 billion) and NBTY Inc. ($3.78 billion).
Industrials led all macro sectors, with 439 deals totaling over $35 billion. That represents a 273.2% increase from 2009 totals, topped only by the 274.9% increase for retail. All macro sectors reported an increase over the prior year, as did most micro sectors (led by hospitals with a 3,541% increase).
Here’s the macro chart:
