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,…

The next buyout cycle is heavy middle market View PitchBook’s 2017 PE & VC Fundraising Report Here If the latest fundraising numbers are any indication, the new buyout cycle taking hold will be much more geared toward the middle market, particularly on the lower end. Compared to years past, the latest crop of MM funds accounts…

Spotlight on the Consumer Following the announcement of the Amazon/Whole Foods merger, one telling footnote deserves more attention: private equity was eyeing Whole Foods but, due to a rapidly evolving industry, didn’t really have a chance against Amazon. An interesting scoop from Techcrunch reported that, after hearing PE firms were trying to start exploratory conversations,…

Middle Market Activity – 2Q Update, Part Two Download PitchBook’s 2Q 2017 US PE Middle Market Report click here. As we discussed last week, record-level fundraising is having an outsized effect on the PE middle market. So it comes as little surprise that secondary buyouts are taking a larger share of exit activity, with the…

Middle Market Activity – 2Q Update To get the full report on Friday, please visit PitchBook’s dedicated Reports page, linked here. The US middle market continues to be a hotbed of PE activity. PitchBook’s 2Q 2017 Middle Market Report, to be released this Friday, shows another strong quarter, particularly for the upper middle market. 147…