The second quarter of FY2026 opened with noticeable momentum in Australia’s public‑to‑private space, with several listed companies attracting renewed buy‑side interest. Since December 2025, Peoplein Limited (ASX:PPE), Structural Monitoring Systems (ASX:SMN) and Ricegrowers Limited (ASX:SGLLV) have each publicly outlined an increased appetite for acquisitions, signalling a more active corporate landscape as we head into the second half of the financial year.
Compared with Q2 FY2025, the number of completed Australian transactions declined by around 23% in Q2 FY2026. Despite the softer volumes, the market continued to back larger, more strategic plays: the average deal value rose 44%, underpinned by an increase in transactions exceeding $100 million.
These larger deals represented 20% of disclosed transactions this quarter, up from 15% a year earlier, signalling that while activity has consolidated, capital is still flowing toward opportunities with a clear and compelling value proposition.
The focus of our analysis in this update is on mid-market transactions, and we have excluded transactions with a gross transaction value greater than $5 billion.
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