Summarizing Atomico's 2023 State of European Tech report, this piece shows exit markets stalling since their Q4 2021 peak. Billion-dollar M&A made up just 3% of 2023 deal activity, with mid-sized $100M-1B transactions falling to roughly 15 for the year versus 31 in 2022, while private equity powered three of Europe's top five deals, including take-privates of SimCorp, Software AG, and Kahoot. IPOs nearly vanished, public tech counts fell 3% in Europe and 7% in the US, and not one SPAC completed in 2023 after 11 in 2022 and 14 in 2021. Nearly half of surveyed VCs spent more time on secondary sales and continuation funds as LPs pressure GPs for distributions, though Atomico counts over 120 credible near-term IPO candidates.

LPs and fund managers waiting on distributions get a data grounded picture of exactly why liquidity has been so scarce, from the near total absence of billion-dollar M&A to the complete disappearance of SPACs, rather than just an anecdotal sense that markets have simply been slow all year long across the board. The specific mention that nearly half of VCs surveyed are now actively exploring secondary sales and continuation funds signals a structural shift in how GPs are managing liquidity pressure, which matters for LPs deciding whether to participate in those vehicles themselves. The claim of over 120 credible near-term IPO candidates gives readers a concrete, falsifiable benchmark to track in judging whether the 2024 IPO recovery Atomico anticipated actually materialized.