Southern Europe has moved from “promising” to “compelling” for private equity and venture capital. Countries like Italy, Greece, Cyprus, and Spain are drawing global capital.

After a soft 2023, European private capital activity rebounded sharply in 2024, with €126bn invested, up 24% year-on-year, setting the tone for a new cycle of deployment into resilient, reforming, and increasingly tech-enabled economies across the South.

Italy: Scale assets and succession-rich deal flow

Italy is seeing headline transactions that signal confidence in large-cap and infrastructure-adjacent assets, while a deep bench of founder-led SMEs continues to fuel mid-market deal flow. The landmark sale of TIM’s fixed network (“NetCo”) to KKR closed on 1 July 2024, valuing the asset at up to €22bn, an emblematic transaction for global investors backing Italian digital infrastructure. At the same time, Milan is benefiting from fresh wealth and investor relocation, adding depth to domestic capital markets and the GP/LP ecosystem.

Greece: From reform story to institutional capital magnet Greece has transitioned from macro turnaround to credible, repeatable exits and large tickets. The Athens International Airport IPO in early 2024 attracted strong international demand and cornerstone support from strategic shareholders, an important signal for liquidity and price discovery in Greek infrastructure-like assets. Healthcare has also demonstrated real exitability: CVC agreed in January 2025 to sell a majority stake in Hellenic Healthcare Group to Abu Dhabi’s PureHealth at a very strong valuation, evidence that global buyers will pay up for scaled Greek platforms.

Cyprus: A leading international business center and nimble tech hub plugging into European (and not only) capital

While smaller in absolute volumes, Cyprus is carving out a niche as a regional base/platform for multinationals, tech groups and funds. The emergence of locally anchored vehicles, such as 33East, backed by European institutions, adds professional capital, governance, and follow-on capacity to the island’s startup pipeline, helping reverse brain drain and integrate Cypriot founders into European VC and PE networks. Meanwhile, headline FDI momentum and per-capita inflows underscore Cyprus’s attractiveness as a platform for expansion into the EU and EMEA.

Spain: Deepening venture and private equity flywheels

Spain’s tech ecosystem now counts thousands of funded startups, multiple unicorns, and a steady cadence of VC deployment, even through 2024’s market normalization, with early-stage investment outpacing the European average in recent years. That depth feeds later-stage growth and buyout opportunities for international funds. In parallel, global private equity platforms with significant dry powder continue to target Spanish themes such as logistics, renewable energy, specialty finance, and services, supported by robust fundraising at the largest GPs.

What’s powering the Southern Europe thesis

• Structural reforms, privatizations/PPP pipelines, and improving capital markets depth (e.g., Greece) are creating credible entry and exit routes.
• Digital and energy transition assets (fiber, data-rich platforms, renewables) offer defensible growth and infrastructure-like cash flows.
• Founder-led mid-market companies across Italy and Spain provide classic PE value-creation levers: professionalization, buy-and-build, internationalization.
• A more active VC backbone, from Spain’s scaled startup scene to Cyprus’s institutionalizing funds, improves the pipeline for growth equity and future buyouts.

Outlook: From selective to strategic

Invest Europe’s latest data show Europe’s recovery is real, not merely cyclical: investments and exits rose double-digits in 2024, with investors rotating toward sectors where Southern Europe is competitive, technology, infrastructure-adjacent services, healthcare, and specialized industrials. We expect Italy, Greece, Cyprus, and Spain to remain solid markets for PE and VC deployment in 2025–2026, as global sponsors seek proprietary entry points, actionable buy-and-builds, and high-quality exit venues across the region.

By Pavlina Yiannakou, Director, International Corporate Services, Head of Regulated Clients