PE pivots as platform buyouts in software fall to decade low

Private equity's buying spree in software slowed to a trickle in 2026. But a closer read on the market reveals that dealmaking isn't dead—it's just getting done in different ways.

Big-ticket buyouts have fallen out of favor, while tuck-ins and growth equity deals have stepped in to fill the gap for managers still looking to deploy their war chests.

A less accommodating credit market, the threat of AI disrupting revenue models, and a sharp valuation reset dented platform acquisitions, driving US deal value in software to just $16.24 billion during the first five months of this year—a pace that would put 2026's full-year tally at roughly a quarter of 2025's record $156 billion, according to PitchBook data.

While platform buyouts have pulled back across the broader LBO market, the retreat has been particularly stark in software.

Platform deals accounted for 41% of overall PE deal value in software, the lowest share in at least a decade and a 30-percentage-point decline from a year earlier. By contrast, US PE overall saw its share of platform LBOs slip from 21% at year-end 2025 to around 19% through May, a more modest decline, according to PitchBook's 2026 US Private Equity Outlook

Fuente original: Yahoo Finance (https://finance.yahoo.com/markets/stocks/articles/pe-pivots-platform-buyouts-software-221430634.html)