Deal type · November 2026

Private equity: deal monitor

Dated private equity deals over the last 12 months: how many, which practices staffed them, which industries they served and which firms advised.

Hire legal talent Partner recruiting
01 The numbers

The last 12 months: November 2025 to October 2026

1,769
Dated deals, 12 monthsNovember 2025 to October 2026
+10.8%
Year on yearSettled 12-month windows
$2,050m
Median disclosed value
913
Distinct clients
02 Reading the data

What the data show

From November 2025 to October 2026, Sartori & Partners recorded 1,769 dated deals of this type. On settled windows the deal count went from 1,604 to 1,778, up 10.8% year on year. The deal market as a whole moved +10.6% over the same windows.

Private equity deals by year

2026 runs to October.

By practice, Private Equity is involved in 36.0% of these deals and Corporate & M&A in 32.3%. By client industry, Financial Sponsors is involved in 50.1% of these deals and Technology & Software in 6.6%.

Deal value was disclosed on 11.3% of them; where disclosed, the median was $2,050 million. 913 distinct clients appear across the window.

Share of deals involving each practice

First among advising firms is Kirkland & Ellis, with deals in the 151-250 band.

A firm hiring for private equity work should read the adviser table as the map of where experienced lawyers sit today.

03 Firms

Firms by rank and band

Each firm appears as a rank and a band, never an exact count, and only with at least 10 moves in the window.

Advising firms ranked by deals, 12 months
RankFirmDeals (band)
1Kirkland & Ellis151-250
2Latham & Watkins151-250
3Ropes & Gray61-100
4Simpson Thacher & Bartlett61-100
5Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison41-60
6Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher41-60
7Clifford Chance41-60
8Willkie Farr & Gallagher41-60
9McDermott Will & Schulte41-60
10Freshfields41-60

Edition November 2026. Window: November 2025 to October 2026. Source: Sartori & Partners, from public law-firm announcements, firm websites and professional profiles, checked monthly. Methodology. Spot an error? [email protected].

For law firm leaders

Planning a partner hire in this market?

We run retained partner searches using the same data behind this page.