The country saw eight deals worth more than 1 billion euros in 2019.

Private equity investment in Germany topped out at about 32 billion euros, according to EY. That figure represents a year-over-year increase of about 80%, the firm said this week. Private equity investment in Europe’s largest economy hit 17.9 billion euros in 2018.

Private Equity Investment in Germany

The report shows that several key deals fueled the remarkable uptick. It was the largest amount of investment since the Financial Crisis. The report shows that the number of deals fell from 229 to 219, year over year. Financial Times writer Tobias Buck suggests that private equity investment has narrowed its focus in the region. The nation saw eight deals worth more than 1 billion euros. EY says there were just five in 2018 worth that level of private equity investment.

The key private equity investment in Germany for the year included:

• KKR pumped 4.9 billion into Axel Springer, a media group. The June deal represented a 44% stake in the company, which owns Bild daily and several other publications. This was the largest private equity deal of 2019.
• Meanwhile, Macquarie invested 3.5 billion euros into Bayer’s Currenta.
• Next, Hellman & Friedman pumped 2.9 billion euros into online car-trading firm AutoScout24.

Finally, analysts largely expect that private equity investment in Germany and around the globe will accelerate in 2020. Furthermore, firms continue to sit on large levels of dry powder. In addition, investors are pushing these firms to deploy capital with interest rates at record lows around the globe.

Related: Refinitiv: Sovereign Wealth Funds Put $24.6 Billion into Q3 M&A Deals