With “cautious optimism” the prevailing sentiment for the start 2024, the Mergermarket private equity (PE) reporting team takes stock of our 1Q 2024 European private equity data, providing insights into how this year could shape up for deal activity, exits and fundraising. 2024 started off more strongly than 2023 in terms of private equity activity, with deal count up by 21% and disclosed deal volume more than doubling versus Q1 2023. Activity has dropped since Q4 2023, however, with deal count down by 6% and disclosed deal volume by 72%. Although a number of successful exits were announced in ..read more

With GP-led secondaries becoming a mainstay in the private equity exit toolbox, Mergermarket's funds editor Harriet Matthews and senior private equity reporter Rachel Lewis discuss the outlook for this growing part of the private equity market. In a guest interview, Elena Laleh, managing director at Kline Hill Partners, discusses the secondaries investor’s European and North American strategy, highlighting the sizeable opportunity to be found in GP-leds in the lower mid-market. With EUR 47.3bn raised across 16 secondaries funds active in Europe in 2023, versus EUR 30bn across 18 funds in 2022 ..read more

Mergermarket’s funds editor Harriet Matthews speaks to Pierre-Antoine de Selancy, managing partner and co-founder of net asset value (NAV) lender 17Capital, about the evolution of NAV financing and its use cases in the current market, as well as wider industry reservations about the use of this type of leverage. The use of and interest in NAV financing has been growing in recent years. In times of restricted liquidity and a tough fundraising market, GPs can use this tool for situations including refinancing a group of portfolio companies to take advantage of M&A opportunities. De Selancy a ..read more

In this week’s episode, Mergermarket's funds editor Harriet Matthews and senior private equity reporter Rachel Lewis explore how private equity (PE) firms are turning to various options in an effort to secure succession between generations of management, with a guest interview from Jon Harvey, Head of Relationship Management at Investec Fund Solutions. As the PE industry matures and grows, with GPs growing from single-strategy firms to multi-strategy asset managers, the themes of succession and the value within private equity firms have grown in prominence. The team kicks off the episode by di ..read more

Joerg Zirener, a partner at One Equity Partners (OEP), speaks to Mergermarket’s funds editor Harriet Matthews about the firm’s mid-market strategy and his outlook for 2024, covering topics including buyer and seller valuation expectations, mid-market value creation levers, and where OEP sees opportunities for dealmaking. Founded in 2001 and with operations in Europe and the US, OEP’s team has made more than 120 platform investments and more than 300 add-on acquisitions. “We look for what we want to buy, instead of what’s for sale,” says Zirener of the firm’s largely proprietary origination pro ..read more

Mergermarket's funds editor Harriet Matthews and senior private equity reporter Rachel Lewis discuss what the key themes that emerged from January’s IPEM conference in Cannes mean for the 2024 outlook for the European private equity industry, touching on topics including debt, exits, fundraising, and the secondaries market. With interest rates expected to stabilise this year, private equity is adjusting to paying more for leveraged buyout financing and is approaching 2024 with a cautious optimism. However, the industry is not out of the woods yet when it comes to the eternal question of return ..read more

Tom Ross-Jones, partner at UK-based private equity firm Palatine, speaks to Mergermarket senior private equity reporter Rachel Lewis about the sponsor’s journey with sustainability consultancy Anthesis, setting out how the deal was originated, the value creation initiatives during the investment period, and the exit process. If private equity had its own dictionary, value-creation could easily have been a top contender for ‘phrase of the year’ through 2023. Everyone is speaking about it, but there are still questions around how many GPs are achieving it. Palatine originally took a minority sta ..read more

As a tough year for the European private equity (PE) draws to an end, Mergermarket’s private funds editorial team gives a market overview and highlights key topics including the resilience of the mid-market, consolidation in the advisor space, and the popularity of co-investments. The last 12 months brought with them the collapse of Credit Suisse and Silicon Valley Bank; a return to higher interest rates; and yet more geopolitical uncertainty and conflict. Although private equity activity has remained subdued this year, particularly versus the highs of 2021 and 2022, the industry has continued ..read more

Private equity dealmakers in the DACH region have been facing a plethora of challenges in 2022 and 2023 in particular. Funds editor Harriet Matthews discusses the 2024 outlook with HIG Capital’s Holger Kleingarn, and is also joined by Mergermarket’s DACH bureau chief Patrick Costello, who shares his insights on market sentiment and how dealflow is shaping up for 2024. DACH private equity activity in the year to date has comprised EUR 18bn of disclosed deal volume across 156 deals, versus EUR 27bn of deal volume and 164 deals in 2022, according to Mergermarket data. Exits have also fallen, with ..read more

With corporates looking to divest non-core businesses and private equity investors placing a renewed emphasis on value creation, carve-outs are climbing the agenda for many GPs. Harriet Matthews and Min Ho explore the factors behind current dealflow, with a guest interview with Tristan Nagler, partner at Aurelius. According to Mergermarket data at the time of recording, EUR 190bn worth of carve-outs have taken place in EMEA in 2023 YTD, with EUR 39bn taking place in September and October alone. Competition for carve-outs also appears to be on the up, with more US players edging their way into ..read more