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PE-backed companies now outnumber publicly listed firms in Europe by a record margin as private capital increasingly displaces public markets as the dominant form of corporate ownership.
According to PitchBook’s 2026 EMEA Private Capital Outlook: Midyear Update, there are a record 14,395 PE-backed companies in Europe as of March 31, while only 6,240 companies are listed on the stock exchanges, the lowest amount since 2017.
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The ratio of PE-backed companies to publicly listed firms reached 2.3x, setting a fresh record.
The dominant force behind the shift is the structural retreat of public markets. While PE-backed company count grew just 0.7% in Q1, the number of listed firms fell 5.8%, according to the report, underscoring that the contraction of public markets is reshaping European corporate ownership.
The shrinking public universe is partly a function of a near-closed IPO market. Just seven PE-backed companies priced on European exchanges in the first five months of this year, raising a combined €2.4 billion (about $2.7 billion). If sustained, it would make 2026 the worst year for European PE listings on record.
The exit environment has been muted since 2022, pushing PE sponsors toward secondaries and sponsor-to-sponsor transactions rather than public listings. A persistent preference among European companies for US listings, drawn by deeper liquidity, higher valuations and broader analyst coverage, has further depleted the domestic public universe.
European exchanges have also faced sustained pressure with delisting as sponsors moved to acquire listed companies at a discount.
The forces pushing Europe’s corporate ownership further into private hands are showing no sign of reversing. Barring a significant shift in market conditions in H2, the record ratio is expected to keep climbing.
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This article originally appeared on PitchBook News