Acknowledging the lack of in-depth exploration of the processes involved in private equity (PE) buyouts, in this paper, we set out to assess the human dynamics involved in the pre-deal phase of PE buyouts. We adopted a multiple case design across eight countries in a pan-European and trans-Atlantic setting. In each country, a set of 2-6 PE houses were targeted for the study. The interview sample totalled 27 PE houses and 34 interviews of senior professionals in these firms. The main contributions are in offering a process perspective to pre-deal PE buyouts, highlighting the key role of human dynamics in these processes, particularly those pertaining to management assessments. The findings are a further a call to address the process characteristics of post-deal PE buyouts, including their human dynamics, as well as to appreciate dualistic nature of the M&A buyer market, consisting of both PE and industrial buyers.