With AUMs growing by nearly $400B annually and on track to surpass $5T by 2023, private equity has been the fastest growing asset class for some time now. As a subset, tech-focused PEs have been a strong driver of that growth. Tech PEs have become the power player in the global tech world competing toe-to-toe with the strategic community and rocking the landscape across the hundreds of technology markets and thousands of companies. They now account for 31% of all deal flow, up from 9% at the beginning of the decade.

The post great recession generation of tech PE funds deserves the mantra of “buy and build,” and our analysis bears that out. The top Tech PE firms seek out and pay up for platform companies that have the size, market leadership, and management on which they can build. Over the two year period tracked, the top five firms alone combined for 369 add-ons and 83 platform acquisitions, a roughly 4 to 1 split and multiplier effect. These are the firms perfecting the PE “buy and build” formula, generating outsized returns and new fund closings in kind.

In this report, AGC identify what they believe to be the core of the Tech PE world, with firms ranked by number of deals, dollar value, fund formation and other key metrics.

Click to download AGC’s report: AGC-Global-PE-Tech-Review-Feb-2020