How “Most active private equity buyers in 2026” is calculated

A transaction is a dated private equity deal in the DFX transaction record (a platform buyout, an add-on, a recapitalization or a growth investment) whose announcement names the firm as the sponsor on the buy side.

From 1 January 2026 to 7 October 2026. The window moves with the calendar, and the ranking is recomputed from the records every hour.

• Each firm is counted once per transaction, however many of its funds or affiliates the announcement names.
• An add-on counts for the sponsor that owns the platform making it.
• The date is the announcement date.
• Ranked by the number of distinct counted events in the window. A tie is broken by the date of the firm's most recent counted event, then alphabetically.

• Strategic acquirers with no private equity sponsor, lenders, advisers and co-investors.
• Transactions with no announcement date, or announced outside the window.
• Names the record has not resolved to a firm.

• Press releases and portfolio news published by the buyers, the sellers and their advisers, each kept with its URL

No weighting, survey or editorial judgement enters the order. Every source is listed with its rights determination on the sources page.