Signs suggest European tech dealmaking may pick up, says Houlihan Lokey’s Sascha Pfeiffer; Baird Capital hires for PE team | PE Hub

Dealmaking in the European tech sector could rise in the middle of 2025, raising activity above the level set during the last two years, Houlihan Lokey’s Sascha Pfeiffer tells us this morning.

Meanwhile, Baird Capital has hired a new director for its global private equity team.

Catching up

European tech dealmaking is unlikely to speed up from the pace set over the last two years in the very near term, but there are signs that the sector could get busier in the middle of next year, Sascha Pfeiffer, managing director, head of European technology and global co-head of software at investment bank Houlihan Lokey, told PE Hub.

“We’re seeing a ray of light in the US market, and this generally means Europe isn’t far behind,” he said from his Frankfurt office. “Signs are emerging that activity will begin to pick up, and what happens in the US usually filters through to the European market four to six months later.”

Recent tech deals in the US include Thoma Bravo agreeing to sell a minority stake in Qlik, a data analytics software company based in King of Prussia, Pennsylvania, to Abu Dhabi Investment Authority at a valuation of about $10 billion, Sagewind Capital announcing the acquisition of Sabel Systems, a provider of digital engineering research and development services based in Dayton, Ohio, and Lone View Capital investing in CargoSprint, an Atlanta-based provider of solutions for the cargo industry

European dealmaking has slowed because of a “strong focus on quality, where buyers are only looking at first-class assets with high retention metrics,” added Pfeiffer. “Only so many businesses meet these criteria.”

There has also been a slowdown thanks to a glut of deals from earlier in the decade.

“The market has not changed significantly for two years after a large uptick in volume between 2021 and 2022. We anticipate there being one or two more quarters of fairly muted activity before this hopefully changes.”

Some of that muted activity has also been down to sales processes falling apart as investors weigh the potential impact of generative AI on companies’ business models, Pfeiffer told PE Hub back in March.

Track record

Baird Capital has hired Daina Spedding as a director within its global private equity team.

Spedding will focus on sourcing and driving private equity investments across the team’s global footprint, according to a statement.

Spedding joins Baird Capital from BGF, where she was an investor and had been leading deal teams since 2019.

Before BGF, she was a private equity investor at Blue Coast Capital for nearly 10 years.

“She’s a highly experienced private equity investor with an excellent track record in backing founder-led businesses, which, alongside our US growth focus, is well aligned with Baird Capital’s global strategy,” said James Benfield, partner at Baird Capital, in a statement.

Recent deals Spedding worked on at BGF include an investment in Kairos Group, a social agency for brands and creators, which was rebranded as NewGen.

Spedding was also part of our series featuring senior women in private equity to mark International Women’s Day in March.

Not having enough women on investment committees or in positions where they “call the shots” is a core challenge in the industry, she told us at the time. “I believe that people buy from people,” she added. “When it’s time for CEOs to decide who they want to take money from, being a female deal lead can be a real advantage as most CEOs do want more diversity on their boards.”