Global private placement volumes were up 47% at the half-year stage, following a record year in 2025*. June was the largest month in the market’s history, while the second quarter was its largest quarter to date. Approximately 270 transactions were completed during the first half, although the total number of deals was around 10% lower year-on-year.
This combination tells a clear story: market growth is increasingly being driven by larger transactions.
The majority of deals remain between $100 million and $500 million, but 72 transactions exceeded $500 million during the first half, 23 more than at the same stage last year. The period’s two largest transactions were an $8 billion issuance for Broadcom and a CHF2.4 billion issuance for Danaher.
The change is also visible in the type of borrower coming to the market. Debut issuers accounted for 44% of first-half volume, demonstrating the market’s ability to welcome new names alongside established participants. Investment-grade issuance continued to dominate, with higher-rated and broadly triple-B-equivalent transactions together accounting for almost all reported volumes.
For borrowers, the practical implication is that the private placement market should no longer be viewed only as a specialist source of long-dated funding. Its capacity, reach, and flexibility have grown considerably.
Digital infrastructure is changing the sector mix
Infrastructure accounted for 38% of first-half volume, almost double its share a year earlier. Over the past decade, its share of the market has risen from 9% in 2016 to nearly 40% in the first half of 2026.
Data centres have been central to this expansion. First-half data-centre issuance almost matched the total issued during 2025, which itself was four times the sector’s 2024 volume. The definition of infrastructure is also broadening as financial sponsors deploy capital across AI and digital infrastructure, as well as core-plus assets and other increasingly varied structures.
This growth reflects wider changes in capital markets. Pension funds have increased their allocations to alternative assets, more companies have moved from public to private ownership, and long-term insurance capital continues to seek steady investment-grade returns.
The opportunity is significant, but concentration deserves attention. The keynote cited a McKinsey estimate that $7 trillion of investment could be needed for data centres globally by 2030. At the same time, many projects ultimately depend on a relatively small group of hyperscalers, creating potential single-name concentration challenges for investors.
Action for investors: look beyond the label of “digital infrastructure”. Assess the underlying revenue source, contractual protections, sponsor support and ultimate exposure to individual technology customers across the portfolio.
Action for issuers and sponsors: anticipate concentration questions early. A clear explanation of counterparties, contract duration, structural protections and downside scenarios can help investors evaluate opportunities more efficiently.
A broader investor base is creating greater flexibility
Private placements were once funded predominantly by insurance companies investing for their own balance sheets. That model is changing.
Asset managers, including several major global firms, have entered the market, while some traditional insurance businesses are also raising and managing third-party capital. Private equity-owned insurers have added another source of demand and competition.
This broader investor base is not only increasing the amount of capital available. It is changing the shape of transactions the market can support. Larger deals, non-traditional sectors, a wider range of credit profiles and greater flexibility on tenor are all becoming more achievable.
One of the clearest signs is the growth of shorter-dated issuance. More than 40% of first-half volume had a tenor of five years or less, despite the market’s traditional association with long-dated funding. This partly reflects borrower preferences during a period of higher interest rates, but it is also being driven by digital infrastructure and financial-sector issuers, together with investor demand for assets that match shorter-dated liabilities.
That means shorter tenors may be a structural feature of the market, rather than simply a temporary response to the rates cycle.
Action for issuers: avoid assuming that a private placement must be long dated. Test different maturity combinations against refinancing objectives, investor demand and all-in cost.
Action for investors: review whether portfolio mandates and allocation processes reflect the market’s changing tenor profile, particularly where shorter maturities could complement existing liabilities or improve diversification.
Europe remains essential to the market
Europe has historically provided around 25% to 30% of annual private placement volume. Its share fell to 19% in the first half of 2026, but this was primarily because the overall market expanded rapidly through US-led digital infrastructure transactions, rather than because European issuance weakened materially.
European issuance continues to offer investors diversification and access to sectors and borrowers they may not encounter elsewhere. The UK remains the region’s most consistent source of transactions and can account for up to half of European volume, with a steady mix of corporates, utilities, real estate companies and infrastructure issuers. Mainland European activity is less predictable and can be shaped by a relatively small number of large transactions.
The issuer base is evolving too. Sponsor-owned infrastructure businesses and project financings have become more prominent, while nine of the 14 large European transactions referenced in the keynote were sponsor-owned.
European borrowers also benefit from the ability to reach both European and US investors through established documentation formats, including note purchase agreements and institutional term loans. Transactions can be structured across currencies, with non-US-dollar issuance accounting for around 20% to 25% of the wider market. In recent years, approximately one-third of issuance by European companies has nevertheless been raised in US dollars, often by corporates with substantial US operations.
Action for European issuers: map funding needs by currency, maturity and geography before selecting a market. The most effective transaction may combine currencies or investor groups rather than follow a single-market label.
Planning for a market of opportunity and complexity
The current backdrop combines elevated all-in borrowing costs with credit spreads close to 20-year lows. As a result, the relative attractiveness of the market depends on the measure that matters most to each issuer, whether that is fixed-rate cost, floating-rate cost or value relative to public-market alternatives.
The outlook presented at the forum was for strong activity ahead of the US midterm elections in early November, supported by launched transactions and a healthy pipeline. The keynote also identified energy prices, government debt levels, geopolitical developments and heavy hyperscaler supply as factors likely to influence rates and spreads.
Against that backdrop, flexibility has value. Issuers that prepare documentation, investor positioning and alternative execution strategies in advance may be better placed to act when conditions align. Investors, meanwhile, will need to balance the opportunity created by new sectors and structures with disciplined analysis of concentration, credit and liquidity risks.
The private placement market is growing not by standing still, but by adapting. Its investor base is broader, its sector mix is changing and its capacity to provide funding across size, tenor, currency and structure has increased. Europe remains an important part of that development, both as a source of varied issuance and as a growing pool of investor capital.
For market participants, the message is encouraging: more options are available. The advantage will lie in understanding which of those options best supports the organisation’s long-term objectives.
*All data sourced from: Private Placement Monitor, NatWest data.
