Europe’s private equity industry had one of the busiest buy-and-build years on record in 2023, as investors turned to bolt-on deals for portfolio companies amid a slowdown for larger platform acquisitions.

While there was a notable drop-off in deal volume between the first half (444 acquisitions) and the second half (322 acquisitions), the 766 acquisitions made by private equity portfolio companies in 2023 still represents the third-highest figure on record, according to data shared with Financial News’ sister title Private Equity News.