Private equity activity in the UK and Ireland has fallen behind last year's pace, as the macroeconomic backdrop takes its toll.

The region has accounted for a lion's share of European PE deal value over the past decade, but the economic and geopolitical uncertainty of the past few months has put pressure on investor appetite.

These five charts illustrate the major trends in the British and Irish PE market in the first six months of 2022.
   
The UK and Ireland's PE deal count and value are not likely to reach last year's record numbers, with only 762 deals worth a total £75.6 billion closed in H1.

The rise of interest rates and inflation, combined with market volatility, has slowed activity in the region, as it has for many private markets across the globe. However, 2021 was something of an outlier in terms of the frenzied pace of dealmaking, and 2022 is pacing at or above the previous years.
   
The UK and Ireland did not see the same number of take-privates in H1 as in 2021. But these transactions are expected to become more popular as PE firms with high levels of dry powder target high-growth companies that are currently undervalued due to present market conditions.

Among the take-privates that did close this year are Permira's roughly $5.8 billion acquisition of London-based cloud cybersecurity provider Mimecast and the £1.3 billion take-private of pharmaceutical company Clinigen by Triton.
   
An estimated 222 exits worth £49.5 billion were registered in the UK and Ireland in the first six months of the year. At this pace, exit activity could eclipse that seen in 2021, which was itself a record year.
   
Buyouts and corporate acquisitions remained elevated in H1 despite market uncertainty, with record levels of dry powder and depressed valuations driving these exits.

On the other hand, there were no PE-backed IPOs completed in the first six months of the year. Public market valuations for many companies, particularly in tech, have taken big hits in 2022, leaving investors and management teams wary of listing.
   
Only 18 PE funds closed in H1; by year's end, fund count could reach its lowest level in a decade. Capital raised was also down compared with 2021, as LPs reevaluate their commitments to the private markets.

Still, UK and Ireland-based PE firms managed to close some large funds in H1. BC Partners Fund XI tops the list of the biggest in terms of size at €5.3 billion. Inflexion's sixth buyout fund follows in second place having closed on £2.5 billion.