December saw 24 PE-backed acquisitions across Europe, representing a constant level year-over-year.
Number of announced PE-backed acquisitions over the past 12 months*
- Number of PE-backed Acquisitions
Roll-Up Market Insights
With 24 acquisitions, the number of PE-backed acquisitions increased by 41% compared to the previous month.
With 8 acquisitions, the UK was the country with the most PE-backed activity, followed by Ireland, Belgium, Germany and Italy.
Spotler, Stonepeak and JobLogic were the most active acquirer with two acquisitions each.
Software, FinTech and Marketing were the most mentioned acquired industries.
This month’s case study: Create Music Group – Building a modern major
Founded in 2015 in Los Angeles, USA, Create Music Group is a music and media technology company.
Backed by Flexpoint Ford, Create Music Group has pursued an active buy-and-build strategy, announcing 7 acquisitions since 2020.
- Create Music Groups's Acquisitions
Its latest move came in December 2025, with the acquisition of Cr2 Records (founded in 2004 in London, UK). Cr2 Records offers independent dance music labels.
This acquisition enables Create Music Group to scale its buy-and-build strategy by adding Cr2 Records’ UK EDM catalog, strengthening international reach and boosting recurring streaming royalties through its tech-enabled rights monetization platform.
Create Music Group’s Strategy for Aggressive Growth
Create Music Group’s most recent PE-backed acquisition of Cr2 Records demonstrates the company’s ambitions to consolidate the fragmented independent label market. The integration of rights claiming technology offers a direct increase in cash flow on the path to becoming a “modern major” that is positioned internationally and across the entire value chain.
Case study:
PE-investments in Create Music Group highlight the scalability of a tech-enabled music platform, fueled by digital streaming tailwinds, stable recurring royalties, and the opportunity for rapid consolidation of independent catalogs into a centralized monetization engine.
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In 2015, Create Music Group was founded in London with a focus on technology for identifying unclaimed royalties, especially Youtube.
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Since 2021, Flexpoint Ford joined with an Investment of $165mn to start an aggressive buy-and-build mode with the acquisition of UK label and publisher Ostereo and investment in dance label Enhanced
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In November 2025, Create Music Group acquired Mau5trap, !K7 Music, Monstercat and Cr2 Records to further increase market power in the EDM market
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These moves enable Create Music Group to deepen recurring royalty revenues and platform stickiness through its tech-enabled rights-claiming and monetization infrastructure, while expanding its international footprint and strengthening its ability to consolidate independent catalogs and cross-leverage distribution, marketing, and publishing capabilities across the EDM ecosystem.
*All data from CrunchBase, as of January 6, 2026.
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