The largest private equity exits often exhibit several common characteristics, including extended holding periods, aggressive consolidation strategies, and eventual sales to strategic acquirers seeking greater scale, distribution capabilities, or market leadership. The following four transactions are valued between $13 billion and $18 billion, demonstrating how private equity firms generate value through operational improvements, industry roll-ups, and deep sector expertise. They also reflect the increasing willingness of corporate buyers to acquire PE-backed platforms with strong recurring revenues and defensible.
10. NFP ($13bn)
Sellers: Madison Dearborn Partners, HPS Investment Partners Buyer: Aon
NFP is another prominent insurance and benefits brokerage platform developed through private equity ownership. Backed by Madison Dearborn Partners and HPS Investment Partners, the company expanded aggressively into wealth management, retirement consulting, and employee benefits, building a diversified financial services platform centred on cross-selling opportunities and advisory capabilities.
Aon’s $13 billion acquisition of NFP aligns closely with its strategy to deepen its presence in the mid-market segment and broaden its advisory services offering. NFP’s extensive distribution network and specialised expertise complement Aon’s global corporate platform, strengthening its reach across a wider range of clients and services.
The deal underscores the increasing number of strategic buyers taking over advisory firms built by private equity and also shows the premium valuations that large and diverse brokerage platforms are able to command. It also increases Aon’s exposure to middle-market clients and high-growth advisory verticals, further strengthening consolidation trends across the financial services industry.
9. AssuredPartners ($13bn)
Sellers: Apax Partners, GTCR Buyer: Arthur J. Gallagher
AssuredPartners is a textbook example of the insurance brokerage roll-up model, widely regarded as one of the most consistent and profitable strategies in private equity. Established in 2011 with backing from GTCR, the company expanded rapidly through hundreds of acquisitions spanning property and casualty insurance, employee benefits, and specialty insurance services.
Apax Partners later joined as a co-owner, helping scale AssuredPartners into one of the largest independent insurance brokers in the United States. The company’s eventual $13 billion sale to Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. marked a major milestone in the insurance brokerage industry, which has experienced intense consolidation due to its attractive combination of recurring revenue, low capital requirements, and strong cash flow generation.
The deal is one of the biggest ever for an insurance brokerage and significantly bolsters AJG’s competitive position versus industry behemoths Marsh McLennan, Aon and WTW. More broadly, the deal underscores the enduring resilience of the private equity roll-up model in financial services.
8. SRS Distribution ($18bn)
Sellers: Leonard Green & Partners, Berkshire Partners Buyer: Home Depot
SRS Distribution represents one of the most successful industrial roll-up stories in modern private equity. Supported by Leonard Green & Partners and Berkshire Partners, the company pursued an aggressive acquisition strategy across roofing, landscaping, and building materials distribution, expanding from a regional operator into a nationwide platform with more than 760 branches.
The Home Depot’s $18 billion acquisition of SRS is considered transformational because it significantly strengthens the retailer’s position within the professional contractor market, a segment traditionally fragmented and difficult for big-box retailers to fully penetrate. SRS brings extensive relationships with roofers, remodelers, and specialty contractors, customers that prioritise speed, product availability, and local service over traditional retail scale.
The deal is one of the largest industrial distribution private equity exits ever and provides Home Depot with a large foothold in the high-margin professional contractor channel. More broadly the deal reinforces the private equity strategy of consolidating fragmented, service intensive distribution sectors into scaled national platforms. It also demonstrates how PE-built businesses can become strategically important assets for corporate acquirers looking for growth beyond their core retail business.
7. JDE Peet’s ($18bn)
Seller: JAB Holding Company Buyer: Keurig Dr Pepper
JDE Peet’s stands as one of the most successful long-term consumer brand investments in modern private equity. Over more than a decade, JAB Holding Company built a global coffee platform through acquisitions including Douwe Egberts, Peet’s Coffee, Caribou Coffee, and several retail coffee chains, before combining these assets into JDE Peet’s and eventually taking the company public.
The subsequent $18 billion sale to Keurig Dr Pepper represented a major consolidation within the global coffee industry. KDP already possessed a dominant North American footprint through its Keurig brewing systems and K-Cup platform, while JDE Peet’s maintained strong positions across Europe and emerging markets with brands such as L’OR, Jacobs, and Moccona.
The transaction was significant for several reasons. It created the world’s largest pure-play coffee company by revenue, while combining complementary distribution channels spanning packaged coffee, pod systems, cafés, and out-of-home solutions. The deal also highlighted the effectiveness of JAB’s long-term “category ownership” strategy within beverages. More broadly, it underscored the premium valuations commanded by consumer staples businesses with strong brand equity, recurring consumption patterns, and resilient cash flows and characteristics highly valued by both public investors and strategic acquirers.