November saw 17 PE-backed acquisitions across Europe, representing an 29% decrease year-over-year with 7 acquisitions less in November 2025 than 2024.
Number of announced PE-backed acquisitions over the past 12 months*
- Number of PE-backed Acquisitions
Roll-Up Market Insights
With 17 acquisitions, the number of PE-backed acquisitions increased slightly compared to the previous month.
With 10 acquisitions, the UK was the country with the most PE-backed activity, followed by the Netherlands, Jersey, Ireland, Italy, Belgium and Sweden.
Permira was the most active acquirer with two acquisitions.
Software, FinTech and Marketing were the most mentioned acquired industries.
This month’s case study: Octopus Energy – Building a tech-driven utility
Founded in 2015 in London, UK, Octopus Energy is a clean energy technology company that provides green energy solutions.
Backed by Lightrock, Galvanize Climate Solutions and Generation Investment Management, Octopus Energy has pursued an active buy-and-build strategy, announcing 8 acquisitions since 2020.
- Lightcast's Acquisitions
Its latest move came in November 2025, with the acquisition of Kuppa (founded in 2022 in London, UK). Kuppa is a built B2B platform that gives businesses the intelligence to power the energy transition, in any home.
This acquisition enables Octopus Energy to reach their consistent growth ambitions in software-led energy retail and smart-home decarbonisation by scaling virtual home-energy assessments and accelerating renewable energy upgrades.
Octopus Energy’s Strategy for Smart, Sticky Growth
Octopus Energy’s most recent PE-backed acquisition of Kuppa demonstrates the company’s consistent growth ambitions in software-led energy retail and smart-home decarbonisation, particularly in scaling virtual home-energy assessments and accelerating heat-pump, solar and insulation upgrades across the UK and Europe.
Case study:
PE-investments in Octopus Energy reflects the significant potential that investors see in software-led energy retail and the broader energy-transition platform, driven by electrification tailwinds, sticky recurring revenues, and compelling opportunities for international expansion and bolt-on customer-book acquisitions.
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In 2015, Octopus Energy was founded in London as a technology-driven renewable energy supplier.
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Since 2021, Octopus has completed multiple acquisitions including Bulb (customer transfer completed in Dec 2022) and Shell’s home-energy businesses in the UK & Germany (purchase completed, migrations through 2024) expanding its customer base and market reach.
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In November 2025, Octopus acquired Kuppa, a smart home-energy software startup, to scale virtual home-energy assessments and accelerate heat-pump and solar upgrades.
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These moves enable Octopus to deepen recurring revenues and platform stickiness via Kraken, while broadening European footprint and cross-sell of smart tariffs, EV, and heat solutions.
PE investors view software-led energy retail & transition platforms as attractive due to:
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Growth opportunities in electrification (EVs, heat pumps, smart tariffs, VPPs) and Kraken-enabled operating efficiencies across multiple European markets.
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Scale and diversification potential through international expansion and consolidation of customer books and adjacent capabilities (smart-home, installation, financing).
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Network and data effects from a multi-sided ecosystem (customers, devices, installers, and grid operators) driving compounding insights, lower churn, and product stickiness.
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Resilient recurring revenues from utility subscriptions augmented by value-added services, supported by regulatory tailwinds and long-duration customer relationships.
*All data from CrunchBase, as of December 2, 2025.
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