The middle market keeps growing Download PitchBook’s Report click here. Middle-market PE activity continued unabated in 3Q. $233 billion has been invested in the MM across 1,652 deals this year, according to our recently released 3Q 2017 Middle Market Report, and the fourth quarter should help push 2017 figures past last year’s, with at least…

US-Canada PE activity rising, despite politics Download PitchBook’s Report click here. Cross-border private equity activity remains high in Canada, despite trade-related fears at the onset of the incoming Trump administration. According to our latest Canada Breakdown report, available to download here, PE activity involving US investors is on a quick pace in 2017. The 163…

PE’s growing influence on M&A Download PitchBook’s Report click here. Private equity holdings now make up 11% of all target companies in the M&A market. That percentage was a good deal smaller in the not-so-distant past, but the share of PE-backed M&A targets has steadily increased since the financial crisis. Simple arithmetic explains part of…

Feels like the first time Download PitchBook’s Report click here. Like Aaron Judge of the New York Yankees, rookies are sometimes better than the veterans. In our latest Analyst Report, we analyzed first-time PE fund returns against the broader PE landscape. Even with the disadvantages that come with rookie funds—less experienced staff, smaller infrastructure, fewer…

Private Equity’s Amazon Problem Nordstrom, thought to be a prime buyout candidate, is now having trouble securing debt commitments for a would-be deal. It opted this week to wait until after the holiday season to assess any PE buyout, even with an investor waiting in the wings. Following the bankruptcy of Toys R Us, another…

The PE exit crunch Download Report Here Last week we highlighted the climb in equity contributions in recent years. Relative to debt contributions, equity now makes up 57% of EV year-to-date, a significant percentage that will likely water down future fund returns. A second trend bears mentioning as it relates to returns, highlighted in our upcoming…

Less debt today, lower returns tomorrow? Download PitchBook’s 2017 Global PE Deal Multiples Report: III Here According to our just-released 3Q Deal Terms Survey results, average equity contributions have climbed to 57% of EV year-to-date. That’s the highest percentage in our dataset, which includes survey results dating back to 2012. Whenever we release these datapoints, we caution…

Same game, new players Download Report Here The alternative asset industry is no stranger to GP stake sales, but those transactions have historically focused on hedge fund managers over private equity. That trend has pulled a full 180 in recent years, with PE stakes now accounting for well over half of such deals in 2017 while…

The numbers behind the fundraising boom Download PitchBook’s Global PE Deal Multiples Report Here According to our new PE & VC Fund Performance Report, released this week, net cashflows to private equity investors stayed in positive territory through 2016. Net cashflows (the difference between LP contributions and GP distributions) are on a downward trend and, while…

Are PE multiples reasonable? Investors think so View PitchBook’s Global PE Deal Multiples Report Here There’s an old joke in political science circles that applies, in a way, to today’s PE market. Do you approve of the job congress is doing? Not at all says the vast majority, vote them all out. How about your congressman,…