The stalled exit environment

Download PitchBook’s Report here.

PitchBook’s latest US PE Breakdown, the annual version, showed a seismic decline in PE exits last year. Estimated exit volume fell by 28% while exit value fell a much sharper 63%. In all, PitchBook estimates $322.9 billion in exit value, which is the lowest total since 2013. Of course, PE’s company inventory is substantially bigger today than it was nine years ago, so that comparison is noteworthy. On the other hand, so much was sold last year–$877 billion—that a historically slow year like 2022 can’t be too surprising. In fact, last year’s exit bonanza helped spur fundraising to its second-highest haul on record. It will be interesting to see if next year’s fundraising numbers are impacted by this year’s anemic exit numbers.

(Past performance is no guarantee of future results.)