The most commonly used divestment method in 2022 (by volume) was Secondary Buyout (SBO), representing €1,150.9M (59% of total), the highest amount recorded in the last five years. This dynamic is in line with the rest of Europe3 and is supported by the funds available to many Venture Capital and Private Equity GPs, as well as the quality of the assets controlled by this industry, which has experienced significant growth in recent years. Investing in companies with a proven and positive track record helps to mitigate the current market uncertainty. Trade Sale represented 28% of the total. At the other end, divestment by IPO only accounted for 1% of the total volume and eight transactions (1.8%). Write-offs dropped considerably to €40M in 2022 (2% of the total), compared to €186M a year earlier. By number of transactions, the primary divestment method was Loan Repayment (36.4%), followed by Trade Sale (24.4%) and Write Off (22%). The record high in Trade Sales stood out, with 107 divestments, 22 more than in 2021. Divestments by method Secondary buy out Others Trade Sale Write off Buyback Loan Repayment Stock market 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 4,000 3,000 2,000 1,000 0 € Millions Notes Notes 3 At the European level, the main exit route from companies was the Secondary Buyout, representing 41% of the total. Source: “European Private Equity Activity 2022,” published by Invest Europe in May 2023.