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The UK is set for a record year for PE exit count as sponsors increasingly sell to each other to generate liquidity amid a dearth of IPOs—but listing reforms may yet turn the tide.

According to PitchBook’s latest analyst note UK Exit Market: Dearth or Revival?, UK PE exit value reached £20.9 billion (around $28 billion) across 131 transactions in the first four months of 2026, already tracking ahead of the same period last year’s total of 388 deals and is on course to extend a recovery that began in 2025 following a sharp contraction in 2024.

The uptick in exit activity is being led primarily by PE funds selling to each other. Sponsor acquisitions accounted for 62% of UK exits in 2026, up from 39.2% in 2023.

While the IPO market has been dismal, the structural case for a recovery in UK public listings is stronger today than at any point in the past five years, according to the report.

A key driver is the shifting calculus around US capital markets. Tariff uncertainty and geopolitical volatility throughout 2025 and into this year have introduced a degree of risk into US-listed assets, complicating the longstanding assumption that companies on the NYSE or Nasdaq automatically deliver superior outcomes over European enterprises. London, despite its structural challenges, has emerged as a relatively more stable and familiar alternative, changing the conversation for sponsors and founders weighing their options.

Moreover, the Bank of England has cut UK interest rates six times since the peak of the tightening cycle, which has also improved the relative attractiveness of the market.

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Internal structural reforms are also adding weight to the macro tailwind. The UK listing rules overhaul, which came into force in July 2024, represents the most far-reaching reform of the listing regime in more than three decades, removing mandatory shareholder votes on significant transactions and permitting dual-class share structures for the first time.

The UK government also introduced a three-year stamp duty exemption for newly listed companies, while the newly launched Private Intermittent Securities and Capital Exchange System (Pisces) started recording its first transactions in May.

None of the tailwinds is guaranteed to persist. Rates could rise again, the US markets could stabilize, and the window could narrow as quickly as it appeared. But for sponsors with assets ready to come to market, 2026 represents the most constructive set of conditions the UK exit market has seen in recent years.

This article originally appeared on PitchBook News