2026年一季度美国私募股权中间市场报告（英）2026

Contents Institutional Research Group Executive summary Steven Buibish, CFADirector, US Private Equitysteven.buibish@pitchbook.com Deals5 A word from Cherry Bekaert9 Jinny ChoiSenior Research Analyst,Private Equityjinny.choi@pitchbook.com Deals by backing and sector11 Garrett HindsSenior Research Analyst,Private Equitygarrett.hinds@pitchbook.com Spotlight12 Q1 2026 US Private Credit and Kyle WaltersResearch Analyst, Private Equitykyle.walters@pitchbook.com A word from CIL Strategy Consultants14 Exits17 Harrison Waldock A word from Insperity19 pbinstitutionalresearch@pitchbook.com Published on June 12, 2026 Fundraising and performance Q1 2026 US PE middle-market References28 202 5 M I DDLE M AR K E T DE AL E XPE R I E N C E cbh.com/privateequityADVI SO RY | A SS U R AN C E | TA X Executive summary Exits held up; the mix rotated hard.Q1 exit value reached$32 billion across 218 transactions, up 14% YoY. Sponsor-to-sponsor deals captured 69.5% of value as corporates retreatedto a post-pandemic low, and B2B surged to 52.9% of exit valueat the expense of IT—buyers and sellers were converging A strong start, a record-low share.Middle-market deal valuereached $103.8 billion in Q1, up 10.7% YoY and the highest first-quarter total in five years. Yet the segment’s share of all US PEbuyout value fell to 39.9%, the lowest on record, as deployment The middle market is bifurcating.NewSPI by StepStone deal-level datashows the median entry multiple for the $500 millionto $1 billion total enterprise value (TEV) band closed 2025 at13.4x TEV/EBITDA, against 8.8x for the $25 million to $100 Fundraising stayed squeezed.Q1 raised $33.4 billion across38 funds, tracking only modestly ahead of 2025’s weakest pacesince 2018, as LPs concentrate commitments with brand-name managers and specialists. With leverage and multipleexpansion no longer doing the work, we expect returns to Smaller checks have paid more—but with the same risk?SPIrealized-deal data since 2009 shows the $25 million to $100million TEV band returned a pooled 39% gross IRR, ahead ofevery larger band, and with fewer negative outcomes: 39% ofinvested capital sat in deals clearing more than a 35% IRR,compared with 30% for the largest band, while both groups Deals Overview: The middle market continues to lose groundto megafunds The middle market got off to its strongest start since 2021,even as its share of PE deal value dropped to the lowest levelon record. These two signals demonstrate both the industry’scontinued resilience and the increasing levels of concentrationthat concern those in the middle market. Including estimatesfor late-reporting transactions, deal value reached $103.8billion, up 10.7% YoY. Q1 2026 marks the highest first-quarter Median deal size reached a record $193.1 million in Q1, up 9.4%YoY and roughly 49% above the 2024 median of $130 million. Average deal size moved in parallel, rising to $304 million from$260 million in 2025. Capital is concentrating on larger targetsrather than broadening the participation set—consistent with Furthermore, the middle market’s share of US PE buyout valuesits at 39.9% in Q1, the lowest reading on record and 180 basispoints below the 41.7% full-year 2025 figure. By count, sharefell to 61.3% from 70.5% in 2025—a meaningful step-down butstill the majority of US PE deal activity. The middle market is no The strength of the platform model is a bright spot; add-onsaccounted for 68.4% of all middle-market deal count and53.5% of value in Q1, consistent with full-year 2025 at 67.4%and 53.8%, respectively, and marking the beginning of the sixth However, that tailwind now seems at risk. Amid the AI-fueledvolatility in Q1, we have seen lenders move into a more risk-offposture, as those that were recently flush with liquidity nowmust contend with heightened redemptions in their businessdevelopment companies (BDCs). Though we do expect lending in One variable moving against the middle market is the turbulencein private credit, a reliable source of financing for middle-market PE companies. Spreads in private credit have narrowedconsiderably over the past two years as more investors piled into Valuations: A tale of two “middle markets” This quarter marks our integration ofSPI by StepStoneasa new source for middle-market valuation metrics. SPI’sunparalleled depth of deal-level benchmarking data—aggregated and anonymized—enhances our ability to For example, the depth of the SPI dataset lets us decomposethe headline multiple by TEV, and the cut points to a clearpattern: The firmness in 2025 multiples is concentrated at the Larger deals carry richer multiples. Median entry TEV/EBITDAfor deals in the $500 million to $1 billion TEV band closed2025 at 13.4x, against 8.8x for the $25 million to $100 millionband—a spread of roughly 4.6 turns, compared with a spread of Leverage scaled in parallel: Median net debt/EBITDA reached5.2x for the $500 million to $1 billion band versus 2.5x forthe smallest ba