Funds editor Harriet Matthews is joined by Unquote’s reporters, who share their insights from their conversations with market practitioners, backed by preliminary statistics from Unquote Data.

According to preliminary figures on buyout activity from Unquote Data, Q1 2023 saw dealmaking fall to its lowest point in more than a decade.

Meanwhile, although the overall amount raised by buyout and generalist GPs in this quarter held up well year-on-year, the actual number of closes is also down, with large swathes of capital scooped up by large fundraises.

Against this backdrop, sponsors are having to manage their own liquidity issues, be it at management company or portfolio level. Meanwhile, venture capital and growth investors are grappling with an uncertain market, with practitioners on the look out for bright spots amid an overall slowdown.

0:58 – Preliminary Q1 figures from Unquote Data

4:28 – Liquidity issues with Rachel Lewis

11:48 – GP-led secondaries with Min Ho

20:49 – Venture and growth activity with Ero Partsakoulaki

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Approaches to ESG have shifted over the years across public and private markets, evolving significantly from a pure risk mitigation and divestment mindset.

Bain Capital acquired packaging producer Fedrigoni in 2017, with BC Partners joining as a co-investor in 2022. Sessa discusses the company’s growth potential in relation to ESG initiatives and value creation, as well as Bain Capital’s investment outlook for 2023.

Following a discussion of key takeaways, the team looks ahead to the future of ESG, and whether the framework and investment approach are under threat as macro clouds gather.

1:11 – Current ESG trends and topics

4:51 – Recent coverage

8:01 – Interview with Ivano Sessa of Bain Capital

29:08 – Key takeaways

35:32 – What’s next for ESG?

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A couple of weeks on from the conference and with the reporting team now firmly reinstalled in the City of London, the themes and concerns raised by industry professionals at the conference are still present.

Although fundraising and dealmaking obstacles remain, sponsors are looking for ways to overcome these, seeking out resilient companies or those with significant value creation potential.

Bright spots also include value investing, impact and healthcare – and it is good news for those who are ready and willing into this challenging environment.

1:29 - A change in sentiment

3:33 - Fundraising woes

5:20 - Valuations in question

6:51 - Bright spots?

9:19 - LP preferences

10:53 - The road ahead

You can listen to the podcast in the audio player above, as well as your favourite podcasting platforms, including Spotify and Apple Podcasts.

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In a market rife with uncertainty, many sponsors are shifting their focus from exiting companies via structured, broad auction processes, instead preferring to hold more direct, bilateral negotiations with credible parties to secure deals.

Meanwhile, the lack of availability of debt has driven some sponsors to do all-equity deals with a plan to seek financing later, or to take on a co-investor at the outset to reduce their equity exposure to an asset.

Rachel Lewis and Harriet Matthews explore examples of this trend and discuss how GPs are getting creative on exits and investments.

1:04 – Review/preview

1:54 – Changing auction dynamics

3:33 – Bilaterals are back

4:57 – Underwriting woes

6:51 – Getting creative

12:19 – Light at the end of the tunnel?

Click the following link to read more about this topic on Unquote.com: https://www.unquote.com/unquote/analysis/3028497/going-going-not-gone-pe-auctions-bid-for-relevance-in-risk-off-market

You can listen to the podcast in the audio player above, as well as your favourite podcasting platforms, including Spotify and Apple Podcasts.

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The past 12 months have been shaped by worries over rising interest rates, inflation and spikes in energy costs, with both dealmaking and fundraising taking a hit, according to preliminary figures from Unquote Data.

Although the private equity industry is likely to be entering a very different market next year, sponsors will nevertheless be continuing to seek opportunities as they navigate deployment and capital raising.

Funds editor Harriet Matthews hosts the private equity reporting team to examine how the market has changed in the past 12 months, what is to come in 2023, and how Unquote and Mergermarket have been covering this.

0:50 – Data overview

2:10 – Market and coverage overview with Joao Grando

7:38 – Fundraising market trends with Rachel Lewis

13:09 – Business services opportunities with Wahida Ahmed

18:14 – Consumer sector overview with Ero Partsakoulaki

24:13 – Special situations uptick with Min Ho

You can listen to the podcast in the audio player above, as well as your favourite podcasting platforms, including Spotify and Apple Podcasts.

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The past 12 months have seen a steady increase in impact-related fundraising, be it through established sponsors launching new impact funds or emerging managers entering the market with fresh strategies.

Climate impact investing in particular has never been more relevant in Europe, with Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 driving a renewed focus on energy security and energy storage.

Alongside the interview with Sjåtil, Harriet Matthews hosts private equity and business services reporter Wahida Ahmed to discuss impact fundraising and dealmaking over the course of this year, and where the market is headed in 2023.

0:00 – Intro

1:46 – Impact fundraising

3:34 – interview with Pål Erik Sjåtil

13:38 – Key takeaways

16:45 – The fundraising pipeline

18:41 – Recent impact dealmaking

You can listen to the podcast in the audio player above, as well as your favourite podcasting platforms, including Spotify and Apple Podcasts.

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GP-led secondaries have been gaining increasing traction in the private equity market. Sponsors are shifting from using continuation funds to remove the problem assets from their funds, to instead using these structures to make the most of the best-performing portfolio companies – while also providing liquidity for any LPs who do not choose to roll over into the new structure.

Structuring a deal to avoid potential conflicts remains key, as does finding a way to break through in an increasingly competitive environment.

In addition to the interview with Ford and Gofton-Salmond, Harriet Matthews hosts PE and healthcare reporter Rachel Lewis to discuss the current market and the future of this growing segment of the secondaries space.

0:00 – Intro

6:26 – Interview with Ed Ford and Sacha Gofton-Salmond

23:53 – Links to the primary fundraising market

25:56 – Secondaries fundraising trends

28:18 – Are GP-leds here to stay?

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Growth equity has emerged as a distinct style of investing and ownership, with both challenges and opportunities lying ahead.

In this episode, Shey and Krikke join Harriet Matthews to dive into each firm’s strategy, the operational skillset needed to work with and develop a growth equity company and its founders, and the future of the industry.

0:00 – Intro

1:14 – Growth equity: a definitions

5:12 – Development over time

16:59 – The LP perspective

23:08 – Competitors or collaborators?

27:37 – What’s next for growth equity?

You can listen to the podcast in the audio player above, as well as your favourite podcasting platforms, including Spotify and Apple Podcasts.

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Sun European Partners began its life as a distressed investor, but has shifted its approach in recent years, bringing new opportunities, as well as a need to navigate new market segments and to focus on LP communication during this transition.

Corbidge joins Harriet Matthews to discuss Sun's history, the GP's view on the market, and its approach to sectors including consumer and technology.

0:00 - Intro

1:29 - The history of Sun European Partners

3:50 - Sun's "good to great" transition

6:47 - New opportunities and recent deals

13:52 - The LP view and future fundraising

15:27 - Sun's future, current priorities and view on tech

You can listen to the podcast in the audio player above, as well as your favourite podcasting platforms, including Spotify and Apple Podcasts.

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Looking solely at deals announced in Q3, the average multiple paid in PE-backed deals jumped to 12.4x, versus 11.8x in Q2.

To help us round up the main highlights of the report, Unquote editor Greg Gille spoke to Marcus Archer, managing partner and head of private equity at Clearwater International, while Unquote reporter Harriet Matthews interviewed David Cannon, managing director of KeyBanc Capital Markets, to discuss how US buyers have been fuelling Europe's red-hot M&A. If that wasn't enough, Clearwater partners Per Surland and Nathaniel Cooper spoke to us to share their thoughts on pricing trends for TMT assets.

0:00 – Intro

3:00 – Marcus Archer on macro trends

12:41 – David Cannon on US investors in Europe

19:00 – Per Surland and Nathaniel Cooper on TMT

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Click here to download the Q3 Multiples Heatmap report, including detailed breakdowns of pricing and activity trends for Q3 2021 and quarterly pricing movements across the past six quarters.

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