Deals of the Year

PE Hub names the winners for the best exits of 2024, in six categories.

Leonard Green & Partners scored top honors in PE Hub’s 35th annual Deal of the Year Awards, which recognize exceptional exits that were realized in 2024.

The Los Angeles private equity firm took home PE Hub’s overall Deal of the Year Award, as well as the Large-Cap North America Award. LGP delivered the fourth largest US private equity exit in history in June when it closed the sale of SRS Distribution, a roofing specialist based in McKinney, Texas, to the Home Depot for an enterprise value of $18.25 billion in an all-cash transaction.

Signed in March, the deal closed swiftly in June, despite challenging market conditions for M&A. LGP generated EBITDA growth of 5x over its six-year holding period. Not only did the exit deliver returns for its GPs and LPs, but it also yielded significant proceeds for the employees of SRS, embodying the growing trend of employee ownership for PE portfolio companies.

The Large-Cap Europe Award went to Permira for the sale of the majority stake in fund administration and corporate services provider Alter Domus, with an EV of €4.9 billion, to Cinven.

PE Hub received hundreds of nominations for the 2024 awards. Our criteria for selecting the winners included a wide array of metrics, such as multiples on invested capital; internal rates of return; EBITDA growth; employee retention, expansion and participation in exit proceeds; add-on deals and organic growth. We also looked at investment rationale and plans, as well as methods of growth and how exits were made. And we considered the significance of transactions within a sector and how they exemplified the year’s challenges and opportunities.