Dan Primack

The latest on private equity, M&A, deals and movements — from Wall Street to Silicon Valley

By the numbers: Private equity rebounded in 2010

January 3, 2011: 10:46 AM ET

Source: Thomson Reuters

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:

Source: Thomson Reuters

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About This Author
Dan Primack
Dan Primack
Senior Editor, Fortune

Dan Primack joined Fortune.com in September 2010 to cover deals and dealmakers, from Wall Street to Sand Hill Road. Previously, Dan was an editor-at-large with Thomson Reuters, where he launched both peHUB.com and the peHUB Wire email service. In a past journalistic life, Dan ran a community paper in Roxbury, Massachusetts. He currently lives just outside of Boston.

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