This report shines light on trends in how private equity investments are being realised.

Sales of investments by private equity amounted to 230 in the third quarter of this year, almost matching the record 231 exits chalked up in the fourth quarter of 2012 and the total is expected to be larger with more data coming through.

Trade sales have been the key driver of the private equity-backed exit market in Q3 2015, as the number of initial public offerins, sales to general partners, and restructurings all fell, according to Preqin, the research firm that tracks alternative investing.

Nonetheless, private equity-backed exit market as a whole contracted slightly in the third quarter of 2015, as 394 exits were completed, worth an aggregate $116 billion, it said. This figure is a decrease in both number and value from the previous quarter,
when 413 exits occurred, worth a total of $122 billion. However, it did mark the third consecutive quarter in which overall exit value exceeded $100 billion, and so far this year $340 billion-worth of exits have already occurred.

The number of private equity buyout fund-backed deals in Q3 was 874, slightly above the 834 in Q2. However, aggregate deal value fell 17 per cent, from $102 billion in the second quarter of the year to $85 billion in the third.

While aggregate deal value in North America fell from $51.4 billion in Q2 to $44.3 billion in Q3, Asia overtook Europe to be the second biggest region in this regard. Some 270 deals were completed in Europe, worth a total of $17.5 billion, a 55 per cent decrease from Q2. At the same time, 59 deals were completed in Asia, worth an
aggregate $20.8 billion, an increase driven by several large deals in the region.