Private equity almost doubles London office market share

Private equity has been quick out of the blocks this year, accounting for 11% of acquisitions and a quarter of all deals under offer in the London capital market, according to new data from Colliers. The figures, which look at London office transactions over £10m, highlighted a steady increase in private equity’s market share year-on-year; accounting for 4% of purchases for the full year in 2022 and 6% for 2023. The agency has tracked around £421m of capital set to be deployed across the London market from private equity sources. This is after the continued dominance of private capital taking advantage of the limited buyer pool – accounting for 35% (more than £600m) of transactions under offer Appetite from private equity houses has also continued to grow, with active bidding from these investors totalling £791m since Q4 2023. This is significantly up on the £524m invested in the whole of 2022.    Christian Capocci, associate director in the London capital markets team at Colliers, said: “Although recognising that overall turnover has decreased, we have witnessed a proportionate increase in private capital entering the market. “The market is currently creating an opportunity for private equity buyers who can capitalise on the low competition within the buyer pool and the drop in pricing aspirations, providing the environment this group prefers – low pricing and potentially high returns.”