The middle market is buying more startups Download PitchBook’s Report here. Tucked away in PitchBook’s 2021 Annual Middle Market Report is an interesting trend: more middle-market transactions involve venture-backed startups. Last year, 189 middle market deals were struck for startups, up from 36 a decade ago. The 189 deals were worth a collective $27.6 billion, another…
Middle market multiples eased in 2021 Download PitchBook’s Report here. Middle market buyout multiples are returning to normalcy, according to PitchBook’s 2021 Annual Middle Market Report. The rolling three-year median settled at 12.5x in 2021, not much higher than the 12.3x median in 2019. The anomaly was 2020, which shot up to 14.0x. Most of that…
A big year for the middle market Download PitchBook’s Report here. Like the broader PE landscape, the US middle market was well into record territory in 2021. According to PitchBook’s just-released 2021 Annual Middle Market Report, more than 4,000 deals were struck for the first time. It was also the first time deal flow eclipsed 3,000…
Private debt overhang drops Download PitchBook’s Report here. The cumulative capital overhang for the private debt industry dropped for the first time in more than a decade, according to PitchBook’s Annual Global Private Debt Report. It’s another indication of how accelerant today’s PE market is, considering almost $1 trillion of private debt capital has been raised…
Public PEGs got much bigger last year Download PitchBook’s Report here. 2021 was bumper year for public PE firms. PitchBook’s latest Analysis of Public US PE Firm Earnings has several interesting breakdowns, but YoY AUM trends stand out. Blackstone, KKR, Apollo, Carlyle and Ares all increased their AUMs, some more than others. KKR led the way,…
Fewer emerging lenders in 2021 Download PitchBook’s Report here. 2021 marked a decade low for “emerging firm” private debt fundraising, according to PitchBook’s Annual Global Private Debt Report. Only 64 private debt funds were raised last year by emerging firms, down from 145 in 2020. Before 2021’s slowdown, emerging lenders raised at least 100 private debt…
“Too much capital chasing too few deals”? Download PitchBook’s Report here. “Too much capital chasing too few deals” is a common refrain in the direct lending market. Is it true? It doesn’t appear to be, according to PitchBook’s Annual Global Private Debt Report. Globally, the direct lending market has about 2.5 years of dry powder on…
Quarterly IRRs returning to earth Download PitchBook’s Report here. PE performance bounced back strongly following the pandemic, but that momentum appears to be slowing. PitchBook’s just-released Global Fund Performance Report estimates a 3.4% quarterly IRR return for Q3 2021, where the data is preliminary. If that holds as we process more data, Q3 2021 will be…
PE a growing presence in M&A Download PitchBook’s Report here. PE deal flow accounted for 38% of global M&A transactions in 2021, a new high. That’s according to PitchBook’s Annual Global M&A Report, released this morning, which also showed a record year for M&A overall. Globally, 38,231 transactions were finalized last year, a 48% leap over…
162 exits of at least $1 billion Download PitchBook’s Report here. The US PE market enjoyed a wave of big exits last year, according to PitchBook’s just-released Annual Breakdown Report. 2021 was a blockbuster year for exits, fueled in large part by billion-dollar-plus sales. PitchBook counted 162 such exits, by far the most we’ve ever recorded,…