Key Takeaways
- • Private equity investors in Central Europe maintain stable confidence levels despite geopolitical headwinds, with the Deloitte Central Europe Private Equity Confidence Survey showing resilience across the region.
- • Majority of respondents expect transactional activity to remain stable or increase, with 36% anticipating higher deal volume and 56% expecting activity to hold at current levels; only 8% predict a decline.
- • Economic conditions perceived as stable by 74% of survey participants, with 18% expecting improvement and only 8% forecasting deterioration, demonstrating confidence despite Middle East tensions and Strait of Hormuz disruptions.
- • Financing liquidity expected to remain stable, with 70% of respondents anticipating maintained access to capital, 20% expecting improvement, and only 10% projecting contraction.
- • Romania exemplifies regional momentum, with private equity and venture capital investments surging more than fourfold year-over-year to €433.6 million in 2025, while exit values reached record levels of €662 million.
Summary
Private equity investors across Central Europe are demonstrating sustained confidence in the region's investment outlook, according to the latest Deloitte Central Europe Private Equity Confidence Survey. The stability of the confidence index signals continued optimism in the near term, even as the market operates within a challenging global context marked by geopolitical tensions and shipping disruptions. This resilience reflects the sector's ability to navigate complex macroeconomic environments and maintain strategic conviction in Central European assets.
Transactional expectations remain predominantly positive, with survey respondents evenly split between growth and stability. More than one-third of participants (36%) project an increase in deal activity, while a substantial majority of 56% expect transaction volumes to remain at current levels. Only a small minority (8%) anticipate a decline in activity, underscoring broad-based confidence in deal flow. This bifurcated view—between modest growth and stabilization—suggests the market has priced in near-term uncertainties while maintaining constructive longer-term positioning.
Economic perception among private equity investors tilts heavily toward stability, with three-quarters of respondents (74%) forecasting no material change in conditions. A meaningful subset (18%) expects economic improvement in the remainder of 2025, while only 8% project deterioration. Similarly, financing conditions are expected to support continued activity, with 70% of respondents anticipating that liquidity levels will hold steady, 20% expecting improved access to capital, and 10% bracing for tighter conditions. This financing outlook directly underpins the transaction activity expectations and validates the overall stability narrative.
Romania has emerged as a particular beneficiary of regional momentum, with private equity and venture capital investment volumes increasing more than fourfold to €433.6 million in 2025 compared to the prior year, while exit values reached record levels at €662 million. The survey results position Central Europe as an increasingly resilient market shaped by three decades of institutional development and growing international connectivity, supporting the region's trajectory as a destination for sustained long-term capital deployment.
Transactional expectations remain predominantly positive, with survey respondents evenly split between growth and stability. More than one-third of participants (36%) project an increase in deal activity, while a substantial majority of 56% expect transaction volumes to remain at current levels. Only a small minority (8%) anticipate a decline in activity, underscoring broad-based confidence in deal flow. This bifurcated view—between modest growth and stabilization—suggests the market has priced in near-term uncertainties while maintaining constructive longer-term positioning.
Economic perception among private equity investors tilts heavily toward stability, with three-quarters of respondents (74%) forecasting no material change in conditions. A meaningful subset (18%) expects economic improvement in the remainder of 2025, while only 8% project deterioration. Similarly, financing conditions are expected to support continued activity, with 70% of respondents anticipating that liquidity levels will hold steady, 20% expecting improved access to capital, and 10% bracing for tighter conditions. This financing outlook directly underpins the transaction activity expectations and validates the overall stability narrative.
Romania has emerged as a particular beneficiary of regional momentum, with private equity and venture capital investment volumes increasing more than fourfold to €433.6 million in 2025 compared to the prior year, while exit values reached record levels at €662 million. The survey results position Central Europe as an increasingly resilient market shaped by three decades of institutional development and growing international connectivity, supporting the region's trajectory as a destination for sustained long-term capital deployment.
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