Add-ons keep surging Download PitchBook’s Report here. Add-ons now account for 68% of all US PE buyouts. If that pace holds, 2019 will notch another high-mark for the add-on/LBO ratio, which has been trending up for the past decade. That’s according to PitchBook’s 3Q Breakdown Report, just released this week. Two crosswinds have helped boost that…

Where will all the infrastructure money go? Almost three political centuries ago, expectations were high for a bi-partisan and highly funded infrastructure bill. While a lot has happened since January 2017, the promised infrastructure package was not one of them. Recall, though, the fervent efforts among PE investors to piggyback off of those plans. Blackstone…

Usually good but seldom great Download PitchBook’s Report here. PE mega-funds (of at least $5 billion) have tended to outperform smaller funds over the past 20 years. That shouldn’t come as a surprise, as mega-funds are only raised by firms that have outperformed over time. At least for private equity, the biggest firms are almost by…

Middle market update Download PitchBook’s Report here. Middle market PE activity was strong through the first half of the year, according to PitchBook’s newly calculated Middle Market Report. Both deal value and overall volume are on pace to match or exceed last year’s numbers, both of which were records. The back half of the year has…

Eight years in the black Between 2017 and 2018, LPs were on the receiving end of nearly $1 trillion in private equity returns, according to PitchBook’s new Global Fund Performance Report. Distributions came in at $480 billion last year, just off the record set in 2017 of $488.4 billion. Net cashflows topped $150 billion for…

Drawdowns are slower than they used to be Download PitchBook’s Report here. Record years for PE activity are often viewed as fast-moving frenzies, but capital call statistics show the industry is investing much more slowly than it has in the past. Drawdown rates have been relatively slow since 2012, even though 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017 and…

Tea leaves for multiples News this week about the yield inversion will probably have an effect on investor psyche. Inversions have historically predated recessions by as many as 24 months—that particular lag (2005-07) also included a significant rise in the S&P. In four of the last five years, the lag between inversion and the start…

PE firms boosting retail’s omnichannel strategies PE’s track record in retail has come under some hefty scrutiny of late. And buyout shops are taking the hint. At just over 40 deals closed through H1, PE firms are set to complete the fewest retail transactions since at least 2013. Although the headlines are hard to ignore,…

PE accounts for almost 40% of M&A Coming soon Download PitchBook’s Report here. PE-led acquisitions accounted for almost 40% of M&A volume in H1. That’s a remarkably high share for the asset class, which has historically led less than 30% of all acquisitions. The percentage has been creeping up over the past few years, according to…

Private markets grow in size, importance Private market strategies are growing and will continue to grow for the foreseeable future. PitchBook heard from 101 institutional limited partners as part of a new survey report (Private Markets: A Decade of Growth) to see where LPs are allocating their money in the near-term. Two-thirds said they’d be…