As 2025 comes to an end, we would like to reflect on the events that shaped AURELIUS’ year.
Despite geopolitical volatility and challenging markets, we signed 12 transactions across our Private Equity Mid‑Market and Growth investment strategies. This unprecedented number of transactions for us in less than 12 months demonstrates the depth, breadth of skills, and talent in our Investment and Operations teams. In the year of our 20th anniversary, we marvel at our journey from humble beginnings, with only two people in a back room in Munich, to more than 400 people spread across nine offices around the world.
AURELIUS has always thrived on simplifying complexity and transforming operations, and this year reaffirmed the strength of our approach. Our focus on operational improvement, expertise in global carve‑outs, and entrepreneurial drive enabled us to execute ambitious deals, transform businesses and deliver meaningful impact despite a very difficult business environment almost everywhere.
Our key achievements this year include:
- The highly oversubscribed close of AURELIUS Opportunities Fund V at €830m
- Eight mid-market platform acquisitions across Europe and North America
- More than 20 add-ons
- Our first US‑led transaction, strengthening our footprint outside of Europe
- Acquisitions in Southern Europe and the Nordics, with both regions under new leadership
Delivering in a selective market
AURELIUS Private Equity Mid‑Market Buyout alone signed eight platform acquisitions. To highlight a few, we bought Lernia, a Swedish Staffing&Recruitment agency; FIAMM, an Italian battery producer; CSP, formerly Teijin Automotive Technologies, a US tier-1 automotive supplier; and two smart metering businesses in EMEA, Landis+Gyr and Sensus International.
Taken together, our mid-Market Investment Advisory team has acquired more than €5bn in annual revenue, generated by about 17,000 employees.
Moreover, our AURELIUS Growth team continued its Buy & Build momentum with four new platforms and 14 add‑ons. Among its new platforms are Tech Folien Allgäu, a manufacturer of rigid films; and Demis, an MRO and TIC service provider.
Last but not least, AURELIUS Finance Company provided flexible financing to four UK and Irish businesses, and has now deployed a total of more than £400m since it began operating in 2017.
AURELIUS Opportunities Fund V: capital raised, capital deployed
In June, we closed AURELIUS Opportunities Fund V at €830m, completing a significantly oversubscribed fundraise in less than five months. More than 90% of Fund IV investors recommitted, including endowments, pension funds, insurers and charitable foundations, and were supplemented by some new blue‑chip LPs.
Fund V continues our strategy of mid‑market carve‑outs, platform build‑ups and complex buyouts, targeting companies with triple-digit million revenues and deploying up to €200m in equity. The fund has already made its first investment with the acquisition of Cromwell from Grainger, highlighting our continued momentum in dealmaking.
North America: closing our first US-led deal and building scale
Our expansion in the US accelerated. Our New York Investment Advisory team closed its first transaction with the acquisition of CSP. Separately, what began as a small US presence of our Operations Advisory team in 2024 has now grown into an almost 20‑strong AURELIUS WaterRise base in Chicago. We significantly enhanced our ability to support complex transformations across the region directly from the US.
Growing with purpose: expansion across the globe
To support our activities, we continued to invest in both talent and infrastructure. Office moves this year included the expansion of our Regent Street office to add desperately needed space for a growing team, and relocations to larger offices in Luxembourg and Milan.
We also strengthened various teams at senior level: in total, we created more than 20 positions across the Investment Team, AURELIUS WaterRise and support functions, either through internal promotions or external hires.
Now at nearly 200 specialists, AURELIUS WaterRise grew by 15% this year, reflecting the sustained demand for hands‑on transformation across our portfolio.
Making our voice heard
Given the cost and lack of availability of leverage or multiple expansion as value drivers for PE, our views regarding the last remaining lever – operational transformation – were in demand. We attended more than 20 key industry events across Europe, the UK and the US
Corporate Carve‑Out Survey 2025: What’s ahead
Once again, we asked senior experts in the PE ecosystem about their expectations for 2026 and crunched the data. Our annual AURELIUS Corporate Carve-out survey revealed clear trends for 2026: corporate carve-outs are expected to continue to rise in 2026, with nearly 80% of respondents predicting an increase in the number of global corporates looking to divest non-core businesses.
On the other side of the ledger, winning carve-out opportunities will be down to certainty of execution. And nearly three times as many respondents as last year said AI is becoming increasingly important in identification and diligence.
Full results will be published in January 2026.
A brief look into 2026
In January, we will share our full Outlook for the year ahead, but one theme is already clear: the permavolatility we have been talking about since 2024 is here to stay – challenging yet rich in opportunity for those who can execute.
Deal flow is gradually rebuilding, corporate reshaping is accelerating and operational excellence has firmly re‑established itself as the decisive value‑creation lever. At the same time, elevated funding costs, regulatory shifts, geopolitical uncertainty and the uneven roll‑out of AI will continue to shape the landscape.
With our best wishes for 2026,
The AURELIUS partners