Laxman Pai, Opalesque Asia: US private equity (PE) investment activity totaled $708.4 billion in 2020 (down 7.3 percent from 2019) across 5,309 separate deals (down 3.4 percent), marking the first decrease in both private equity value and number of transactions since 2009, said a study by the financial data and research provider Pitchbook.
Growth equity was a standout performer in 2020, investing the highest deal value on record at $62.5 billion, up 8.8% from 2019, revealed the Annual U.S. PE Breakdown Report.
However, the exit values came in much better expected in 2020, with $378.3 billion generated across 952 exits: an increase of 6 percent in value, against a 14 percent decrease in total exits from 2019.
Public listings were the preferred route for the largest exits in 2020 with eight of the 10 largest exits being public listings.
Against this backdrop-particularly given the resilience of IPO's (which accounted for 8 out of the 10 biggest private exits in 2020) and the runaway popularity of special purpose acquisition companies (or SPACs, the "blank check" companies that raised more money in 2020 than in all the years of the previous decade combined), PE turned in a pretty good year.
US PE fundraising dipped in 2020, with firms closing on 231 funds for a total of $203.2 billion - year-over-year declines of 38.4% and 36.6%, respectively. While fundraising was down, in part due to both a lack of mega-funds and virus-related issues, US PE firms still close...................... To view our full article Click here
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