The Consumer Private Equity Report
The largest PE investors, deal activity, and portfolio trends in the Consumer sector
2026 Edition
Executive Summary
In this report, we go deep into the PE landscape in the Consumer sector. We share insights on the largest Consumer investors, their portfolios, subsector trends, entries, add-ons, exits, holding periods, growth rates, and much more. Here is a summary of our key findings:
Roark Capital has emerged as the largest Consumer investor, managing an estimated EV of $41.8bn*, followed by 3i Group ($39.3bn) and Apollo Global Management ($37.6bn). Other investors in the top 10 include Blackstone ($36.8bn), KKR ($29.7bn), PAI Partners ($26.0bn), CVC Capital Partners ($21.4bn), CD&R ($21.1bn), TDR Capital ($17.6bn), and Platinum Equity ($12.2bn).
US-headquartered investors dominate the Consumer 100 ranking, managing 63% of aggregate EV. The top 100 collectively manage an estimated $602bn across 1,225 assets, with the top 10 accounting for 47% of EV.
Consumer PE entry count declined 10% in 2025, with early 2026 activity pointing to a modest recovery. PE entry activity has structurally moved away from Consumer over the last 13 years, with all four subsectors losing share relative to 2012. Italy has the highest Consumer sector concentration at 28% of all PE assets. North America is the lowest at 12%.
Consumer exit activity remains weak relative to the count of assets in the backlog. Holding periods have reached an all-time high of 6.8 years. The gap versus other sectors has progressively grown since 2022, driven by slower revenue growth and increased margin pressure.
Consumer assets rely heavily on revenue growth for value creation (65%), with margin improvement contributing just 20%, substantially lower than other sectors. Buy-and-build activity is also less common in the sector, with only 34% of Consumer companies pursuing add-ons versus 50–60% elsewhere.
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Chapter 01: Investor Ranking
The Consumer 100 Ranking
Roark Capital emerged as the largest Consumer investor in the ranking, managing an estimated EV of $41.8bn, followed by 3i Group ($39.3bn) and Apollo Global Management ($37.6bn).
Other investors in the top 10 include Blackstone ($36.8bn), KKR($29.7bn), PAI Partners ($26.0bn), CVC Capital Partners ($21.4bn), CD&R ($21.1bn), TDR Capital ($17.6bn), and Platinum Equity ($12.2bn).
Collectively, the top 100 investors manage an estimated EV of $602bn across 1,225 assets. The top 10 account for 47% of total EV ($283bn), with the remaining 90 firms managing $319bn between them.
On average, each investor holds 12 portfolio companies, with a median portfolio EBITDA of approximately $65m.
Over the last six years, these investors have invested in 2.3x as many new portfolio companies as they have exited. There have been 1,027 new investments and 441 exits from these sponsors.
US-headquartered investors dominate the ranking, managing 63% of aggregate Consumer 100 EV. Outside the US, UK&I sponsors account for the largest share at 21%, followed by France (8%), Rest of Europe (6%), and other international investors (2%).
Dominant Investor HQs
By investor HQ region, the leading investors are Roark Capital (North America, $42bn), 3i Group plc (UK&I, $39bn), PAI Partners (France, $26bn), and Waterland (Rest of Europe, $9bn). Other large investors outside North America include CVC Capital Partners (UK&I, $21bn), TDR Capital (UK&I, $18bn), Ardian (France, $11bn), Partners Group (Rest of Europe, $4bn), Trilantic Capital Partners (Rest of Europe, $3bn), and Credit Agricole (France, $3bn).
Chapter 02: Portfolio Insights
In this chapter, we explore the investment portfolios of the top 30 investors in Consumer, analyzing key metrics such as EV range, asset concentration, investment type and sector/regional split of their holdings.
Note: We exclude from this analysis investors who have less than 5 data points for a particular metric.
By Sub-sector & Region
Roark, 3i Group, and Arctos invest mostly in Consumer, with over 75% of their portfolios concentrated in the sector. Other Consumer-heavy sponsors include KSL Capital, L Catterton, Fortress, PAI Partners, TDR Capital, and Investindustrial, each allocating 50-70% of their portfolios to Consumer.
By Size
CD&R ($1,873m median EV) and Roark ($1,350m) target the largest Consumer assets, deploying capital in fewer, larger positions. At the other end, L Catterton ($71m) targets emerging consumer brands across buyout and growth, while KSL Capital ($88m) focuses on lower mid-market travel and leisure.
BC Partners (99%), Brookfield (99%), 3i Group (96%) and BDT & MSD (93%) have the highest concentration in their top 3 Consumer assets. In contrast, L Catterton (37%), Apollo (41%), CVC (41%), Platinum Equity (41%) and Blackstone (45%) show the most diversified portfolios, with top 3 assets representing less than half of their Consumer EV.
Chapter 03: Deal Activity
Entries
Consumer PE entry count declined 10% in 2025. Early 2026 activity points to a modest recovery, though it remains early to draw conclusions given current macro and geopolitical uncertainty.
Exits & Holding Periods
Consumer PE exits remained broadly stable over the last two years. Improving debt markets and mounting LP pressure to return capital supported activity over this period. Early 2026 trend points to continued resilience, though the outlook is clouded by macro and geopolitical uncertainties.
When compared to the backlog of assets, Consumer exit activity remains weak. Consumer has one of the highest shares of assets held for 5+ years, many of which are seeing revenue growth slow down and margins come under pressure as well.
Chapter 04: Returns and Value Creation
MOIC
Consumer Goods delivers the highest median MOIC within Consumer at 2.7x. This is driven by the scalability of branded Consumer products and their appeal to strategic acquirers at exit, which supports valuation uplift. Retail is the weakest performer, consistent with the structural headwinds facing the brick-and-mortar businesses.
Buy-and-Build
Consumer PE-backed assets pursue the least add-ons with only 34% of companies pursuing add-ons vs ~50-60% in other sectors. In Consumer, organic growth through brand investment and distribution expansion is typically the primary value creation lever, making inorganic consolidation less central to the investment thesis than in software or services roll-ups.
