Our full data methodology

Deal Types

In order to offer greater granularity, deals are grouped into two tiers. All advanced deal types map to one of two basic types. They are as follows:

Advanced deal type	Basic deal type	Description
Late-stage venture	Growth & bolt-ons	More established venture-backed businesses (minimum 5 years of trading), with several years of revenues (NB not necessarily profitable). Typically Series C and beyond
Growth capital	Growth & bolt-ons	Minority investments in well-established businesses
Bolt-on	Growth & bolt-ons	Add-ons to existing portfolio companies, funded by new equity or not
MBO	Buyout	Traditional buyout - be it sponsor-, management- or vendor-led. Normally via a newco structure
MBI	Buyout	Management buy-in: as above, with incoming manager(s)
BIMBO	Buyout	Hybrid buy-in/buyout where incoming managers invest to join existing management
SBO	Buyout	Secondary buyout: one sponsor acquiring all or part of a business from the incumbent backer
Carve-out	Buyout	Acquiring an internal business or division from a business
Turnaround/Restructuring	Buyout	Acquiring a business in a distressed situation
Buy & Build	Buyout	Buying a target specifically as a platform to grow through acquisitions
Merger/buyout	Buyout	A new entity is created via the merger of two or more businesses, normally via a newco. In many cases one or more of the merged entities are already PE-backed
Single-asset continuation vehicle	Buyout	A single portfolio company is acquired by a dedicated continuation fund, usually managed by the same general partner
Multi-asset continuation vehicle	Buyout	Several portfolio companies are acquired by a dedicated continuation fund, usually managed by the same general partner

Sectors/Subsectors

RDM’s industry classification taxonomy is based on the ICB (Industry Classification Benchmark), but is simplified to cut down on search complexity. In total, we have 44 subsectors that each map to one of nine Industries. Keyword searches to narrow down into specific verticals are possible within the Deals Database.

Industry	Subsector
Oil & Gas	Oil Equipment/services Integrated Oil & Gas Exploration and Production Pipelines
Industrials & Basic Materials	Construction & Materials Electronic & electrical equipment General industrial/Manufacturing Industrial engineering Industrial transportation
Utilities	Electricity Gas, Water & Multiutilities
Consumer Goods & Services	Retail Personal & Household Goods Travel & Leisure Food and Beverages Education Media & Entertainment
Business services	IT and digital services Facilities Management Business Process Outsourcing Construction & Environmental Services Outsourced public services Business Support Services
Healthcare	Pharma/Biotech Med-tech (software) Med-tech (equipment) Healthcare services (CDMO) Healthcare Providers
Financials	Banks Insurance Consumer finance Asset Management Wealth Management Real estate investment & services
Telecommunications	Fixed line telecoms Fibre Networks Telecom manufacturing Broadcasters
Energy & Environment	Green energy production/Technology Waste treatment Recycling
Technology	IT Hardware IT software Electronic office equipment

Research Sources

Deal research is underpinned by RDM’s editorial and news function, which boasts a Europe-wide network of contacts in the midmarket space, including the region’s most active and well-respected sponsors and advisers. The deal-related coverage on www.realdeals.eu.com is substantially augmented by secondary research carried out by a highly experienced team of onshore and offshore researchers, which closely monitors dozens of specialist news outlets, sponsor sites, industry publications and other publicly available sources to capture deal announcements across Europe.

Estimated Valuations

The financial values of the majority of European private equity deals are not disclosed, which makes aggregated industry statistics unreliable. Databases often record these undisclosed transactions with a 'zero value,' which significantly understates the true value of activity in any given sector. This data gap makes it difficult for users to identify businesses of a specific size or determine which investors and service providers are most active within certain deal-size ranges. RDM addresses this issue by estimating values in all cases. Valuation methodologies include balance sheet analysis and the assumption of typical entry multiples in a given sector, ‘sweet spot’ investment sizes by the funds involved and other comparables. In these deals, the internal estimate is not released on the Deals Database, but the size range is indicated. This is also true of confidential deal values that we might have been given by sources off the record. For buyout deals, we seek to estimate the enterprise value (EV). For growth deals the estimated range indicated relates to the investment size rather than EV.

Deal Submissions

If you would like to report a deal or exit that you have been involved in, either as investor or adviser, please do not hesitate to contact us. Similarly if you believe we have incorrectly estimated a deal value range, please contact us and we will investigate.