Seeking Fund VII or greater Download PitchBook’s Report here. Yet another piece of evidence about today’s fundraising challenges—more than half of 2023 dollars have been committed to funds VII or greater. According to PitchBook’s Global Private Markets Fundraising Report, 56% of PE fund closings this year have gone to the seventh, eighth, ninth or tenth funds…

Founder-backed M&A is doing better Download PitchBook’s Report here. Founder-owned businesses are more motivated to sell in the current environment. PitchBook’s latest Analyst Note, Founder-Owned Businesses are Attractive M&A Targets, found a sharp uptick for “nonbacked sellers”—companies with no private backing or corporate ownership. Companies backed by PE firms are, for the most part, on the…

US PE dry powder down Download PitchBook’s Report here. As much dry powder is floating around the PE market, the mountain is shrinking at the moment. According to PitchBook’s Q1 2023 US PE Breakdown, unspent capital accounts for less than 30% of total PE AUM. It’s the first time in two decades where that metric has…

A shift away from mega funds? Download PitchBook’s Report here. Most PE metrics got off to a slow start in Q1, but middle market fundraising stayed strong. According to PitchBook’s Q1 2023 US PE Breakdown, 41 MM funds closed in Q1, worth a combined $55 billion. The past four years have all seen at least 200…

Corporate M&A multiples have eased Download PitchBook’s Report here. Corporate M&A multiples have eased to decade lows, according to PitchBook’s Q1 2023 Global M&A Report. Last year’s multiple settled at 8.5x, down from 10x in 2021. A quarter into 2023, multiples continue to drop, now down to 7.7x. It’s only three months’ worth of data, but…

Very few exits in Q1 Download PitchBook’s Report here. PE exits were historically slow in Q1, according to PitchBook’s Q1 2023 US PE Breakdown. All exit ramps—corporate acquisitions, IPOs and secondary buyouts—were down significantly. SBO activity has been in a teeter totter pattern since Covid. Q4 2021 saw 318 SBOs—the most ever recorded—but was bookended by…

Q1: A mixed verdict Download PitchBook’s Report here. 2023 started with mixed results. According to PitchBook’s just-released Q1 2023 US PE Breakdown, deal flow slid 9% while deal value rose about 11%. Both figures are ahead of pre-Covid levels, but post-Covid trends continue to decline…. Login to Read More...

“Newcomers” to private debt Download PitchBook’s Report here. The private debt market is attracting a lot of new players. New, but not “new” new: If Apollo raises a debut fund in a new strategy, should that fund count as a “first-time fund”? They might be considered newcomers to private debt, for example, but LPs know who…

Looking ahead to Q2 Download PitchBook’s Report here. Q1 is drawing to a close. PitchBook’s updated US PE Breakdown will be released in about two weeks (our 2022 Annual Breakdown is available here), but in the meantime, there’s building sentiment for another down quarter. In his email this morning, Dan Primack was dripping with anticipation about…

Middle-market valuations down in 2022 Download PitchBook’s Report here. Middle-market multiples peaked much earlier than the overall market, which saw its highest price tags in 2021. That said, middle-market EV/EBITDA multiples continue to subside, according to PitchBook’s US PE Middle Market Report. After peaking at 16.0x in 2019, the headline number came down about a turn…