February saw 16 PE-backed acquisitions across Europe, representing a 20% decline year-over-year. At the same time, this presents the lowest number of monthly acquisitions in the last 12 months.
Number of announced PE-backed acquisitions over the past 12 months*
- Number of PE-backed Acquisitions
Roll-Up Market Insights
PE-backed acquisitions in Europe declined in February by 20% year-over-year, as well as by 36% from January.
50% of the remaining 16 acquisitions were conducted in the UK, followed by Denmark (2), Italy (2), Turkey (1), Ireland (1), Cyprus (1), and Luxembourg (1). 6 of the overall acquisitions were made by US-based companies.
This month’s case study: Litera
Litera is a software provider for law firms and document-intensive organizations. The company offers document drafting products to create, proofread, compare, clean, and distribute content quickly and securely, as well as transaction management tools to create a secure, collaborative workspace and automate the signature process. Founded in 2001 in Chicago, USA, the company employs between 500 and 1,000 FTE.
Since 2020, Litera has acquired a total of 17 companies:
- Litera Acquisitions
Litera’s most recent acquisition, conducted in February 2025, was the acquisition of Peppermint Technology.
Founded in 2010 in Nottingham, UK, Peppermint Technology is a leading provider of legal service platforms which bring together the applications and data which legal advisors and consultants require to operate their business.
The acquisition of this LegalTech company represents Litera’s 19th overall acquisition listed on Crunchbase since Litera was acquired by Hg Capital.
Legal and regulatory compliance tech markets face PE-backed consolidation
As previously reported by Business Insider, the legal and regulatory compliance tech market is being rolled up by multiple global PE-firms and their platform companies, including Litera.
Relevant PE-investors in this industry include:
Hg Capital, General Atlantic, Knox Capital, K1 Investment Management, Vista Equity Partners, GI Partners, and TA Associates.
Two of the relevant investors, K1 Investment Management and Hg Capital, have been involved with Litera:
- In 2016, K1 acquired Litera and pursued a first phase of add-on acquisitions with other legal enterprise software companies. According to Litera in Business Insider, the company was able to triple its revenue and double its product portfolio during its K1 ownership.
- Three years later, K1 sold Litera to Hg Capital, where it now presents one of 11 legal and regulatory investments of Hg Capital. During its Hg Capital ownership, Litera now conducted its 19th publicly known add-on acquisition with Peppermint Technologies in February 2025.
- With Litera, Hg Capital followed its investment approach of identifying fragmented sub-niches in the broader legal tech industry, acquiring a skilled player in that niche, and conducting add-on acquisitions to grow the platform company to a niche leader.
*All data from CrunchBase, as of March 11, 2025.
Partner with us
Unlock the full potential of your financial strategy with Trustventure’s expert guidance. Whether you’re navigating challenges in the financial sector, seeking advice on corporate financing, or enhancing your planning and controlling processes, we’re here to empower your journey and help you create transparency and confidence for you and your investors.
Ready to elevate your financial game? Reach out to us today using our contact form or drop us a direct message at office@trustventure.de. Work with us to achieve your financial success! 🚀
Other articles
VC Landscape Germany Venture Capital Landscape – Q2 2026
Between an increase of 5% in invested VC volume and a €600mn funding round in the DefenseTech space, Germany is closing its venture capital landscape Q2 2026. Learn all about it in our latest analysis.
July 22, 2026
VC Landscape European Venture Capital Landscape – June 2026
With 420 investments and $7.5 billion raised across Europe, June saw a 18% increase in volume and 43% rise in deal count month over month. The largest round of the month was a $1.4 billion Series C by the Metzingen-based company Neura a company which builds AI-powered cognitive robots for industrial and everyday use.
July 21, 2026
M&A European Roll-Up Market Report – June 2026
June 2026 presented a 3% year-over-year decrease in the number of PE-backed acquisitions. In addition to Software, private equity investors are also targeting FinTech, Health Care and Consulting. Learn all about it in our report and case study, including Blend360’s acquisition of In516ht.
July 8, 2026
M&A European Roll-Up Market Report – May 2026
May 2026 presented a 45% year-over-year increase in the number of PE-backed acquisitions. In addition to Marketing, private equity investors are also targeting Software, FinTech and Consulting. Learn all about it in our report and case study, including RSK’s acquisition of HV Energy Systems.
June 15, 2026
VC Landscape European Venture Capital Landscape – May 2026
With 293 investments and $6.3 billion raised across Europe, May saw a 31% increase in volume and 10% decrease in deal count month over month. The largest round of the month was a $2.1 billion Series B by the London-based company Isomorphic Labs an AI-first drug design and develoment company that transforms drug discovery to design and evaluate new medicines.
June 8, 2026
VC Landscape Germany Venture Capital Landscape – Q1 2026
Between an increase of 6.5% in invested VC volume and a €350mn funding round in the AI space, Germany is closing its venture capital landscape Q1 2026. Learn all about it in our latest analysis.
May 20, 2026
VC Landscape European Venture Capital Landscape – April 2026
With 327 investments and $4.8 billion raised across Europe, April saw a 42% decrease in volume and 9% fall in deal count month over month. The largest round of the month was a $1.1 billion Seed Round by the London-based company Ineffable Intelligence, which develops machine learning systems that learn through interaction and experience.
May 13, 2026
M&A European Roll-Up Market Report – April 2026
April 2026 presented a 0% year-over-year increase in the number of PE-backed acquisitions. In addition to Consulting, private equity investors are also targeting Software, FinTech and Transportation. Learn all about it in our report and case study, including NOD’s acquisition of Paintworks.
May 11, 2026
M&A European Roll-Up Market Report – March 2026
March 2026 presented a 19% year-over-year increase in the number of PE-backed acquisitions. In addition to FinTech, private equity investors are also targeting Consulting, Software and Marketing. Learn all about it in our report and case study, including Syndigo’s acquisition of Taggstar.
April 16, 2026
VC Landscape European Venture Capital Landscape – March 2026
With 360 investments and $8.2 billion raised across Europe, March saw a 86% increase in volume and 6% rise in deal count month over month. The largest round of the month was a $2.0 billion Series C by the London-based company Nscale, which builds AI data centers and provides GPU cloud infrastructure that companies use to train, run, and scale large AI models.
April 9, 2026