With “cautious optimism” the prevailing sentiment for the start 2024, the Mergermarket private equity (PE) reporting team takes stock of our 1Q 2024 European private equity data, providing insights into how this year could shape up for deal activity, exits and fundraising.

With GP-led secondaries becoming a mainstay in the private equity exit toolbox, Mergermarket's funds editor Harriet Matthews and senior private equity reporter Rachel Lewis discuss the outlook for this growing part of the private equity market. In a guest interview, Elena Laleh, managing director at Kline Hill Partners, discusses the secondaries investor’s European and North American strategy, highlighting the sizeable opportunity to be found in GP-leds in the lower mid-market.

Mergermarket’s funds editor Harriet Matthews speaks to Pierre-Antoine de Selancy, managing partner and co-founder of net asset value (NAV) lender 17Capital, about the evolution of NAV financing and its use cases in the current market, as well as wider industry reservations about the use of this type of leverage.

In this week’s episode, Mergermarket's funds editor Harriet Matthews and senior private equity reporter Rachel Lewis explore how private equity (PE) firms are turning to various options in an effort to secure succession between generations of management, with a guest interview from Jon Harvey, Head of Relationship Management at Investec Fund Solutions.

Joerg Zirener, a partner at One Equity Partners (OEP), speaks to Mergermarket’s funds editor Harriet Matthews about the firm’s mid-market strategy and his outlook for 2024, covering topics including buyer and seller valuation expectations, mid-market value creation levers, and where OEP sees opportunities for dealmaking.

Funds editor Harriet Matthews and senior private equity reporter Rachel Lewis discuss what the key themes that emerged from January’s IPEM conference in Cannes mean for the 2024 outlook for the European private equity industry, touching on topics including debt, exits, fundraising, and the secondaries market.

Tom Ross-Jones, partner at UK-based private equity firm Palatine, speaks to Mergermarket senior private equity reporter Rachel Lewis about the sponsor’s journey with sustainability consultancy Anthesis, setting out how the deal was originated, the value creation initiatives during the investment period, and the exit process.

As a tough year for the European private equity industry draws to an end, Mergermarket’s private funds editorial team gives a market overview and highlights key topics including the resilience of the mid-market, consolidation in the advisor space, and the popularity of co-investments.

Private equity dealmakers in the DACH region have been facing a plethora of challenges in 2022 and 2023 in particular. Funds editor Harriet Matthews discusses the 2024 outlook with HIG Capital’s Holger Kleingarn, and is also joined by Mergermarket’s DACH bureau chief Patrick Costello, who shares his insights on market sentiment and how dealflow is shaping up for 2024.

With corporates looking to divest non-core businesses and private equity investors placing a renewed emphasis on value creation, carve-outs are climbing the agenda for many GPs. Harriet Matthews and Min Ho explore the factors behind current dealflow, with a guest interview with Tristan Nagler, partner at Aurelius.

While current sentiment around private equity investment in the consumer sector is mixed due to its exposure to inflation and consumer demand, sponsors are still finding attractive opportunities to deploy. Advent International managing director Nicolas Chavanne joins the podcast to discuss the GP’s approach to investing, how it assesses the market, and how and why it aims to secure optionality on exit.

Amid a tough fundraising market with tight allocations and a slowdown in distributions, fund administrator Aztec Group’s managing director James Gow and head of innovation Tom Bennett bring their insights into capital raising and discuss the outlook for the year ahead.

Funds editor Harriet Matthews hosts senior reporter Gustav Hoejmark-Jensen to discuss the role that emerging managers are playing in green technology investing. Hoejmark-Jensen explores the topic in an interview with Kim Pochon, senior vice president at Unigestion, and Laurits Bach Sørensen, co-founder and senior partner at Nordic Alpha Partners (NAP).

With the European private equity market back to business as usual after the summer, Mergermarket's funds editor Harriet Matthews and senior private equity reporter Rachel Lewis discuss what to expect for the rest of the year, with a guest interview from Chris Boycott, corporate partner at Linklaters.

Senior managing director Alex Walsh discusses topics including his career in the PE industry, LGBTQ+ representation and inclusion, and the current macro environment

With private equity exits hitting a post-pandemic low point and dealmaking proving challenging due to financing conditions and valuation gaps, Harriet Matthews and Rachel Lewis discuss the current PE exits landscape, with a guest interview from Equistone senior partner Steve O’Hare.

The Unquote team talks about the topics at the forefront of GPs’ and LPs’ minds at SuperReturn in Berlin and what this means for the private equity industry in 2023 and beyond: ranging from value creation, fundraising and private markets consolidation, to Kim Kardashian’s foray into the venture capital world.

Unquote speaks to Fabio Ranghino, partner and head of sustainability and strategy at Italy-headquartered sustainability-focused investor Ambienta, about his current outlook on dealflow and ESG investing, as well as the next stage of the firm’s growth.

Unquote’s Harriet Matthews and Rachel Lewis discuss how and why GPs are looking to harness additional and alternative pools of capital for their fundraises in the current market, with a guest interview with Thomas Eskebæk, CEO of private markets platform Titanbay.

The Unquote reporting team discuss key issues that have arisen for the European private equity market in Q1 2023, including how sponsors are addressing liquidity challenges and the outlook for venture and growth activity.

With ESG at the forefront of the mind of many GPs and LPs, funds editor Harriet Matthews and ION Analytics EMEA M&A and ECM head of analytics William Cain share their thoughts on the topic, accompanied by a guest interview with Bain Capital’s Ivano Sessa on portfolio company Fedrigoni.

Following the eighth edition of the IPEM conference in Cannes, Harriet Matthews and Min Ho share what they gleaned from their conversations with market participants there, looking ahead to how this is likely to shape the private equity industry in 2023.

With sponsors looking to bypass challenging debt markets and macroeconomic uncertainty, funds editor Harriet Matthews hosts private equity reporter Rachel Lewis to discuss how the dynamics of auction processes and GPs’ approach to exits shifting in the current market environment.

With 2022 drawing to a close, the Unquote and Mergermarket private equity reporting team shares insights on how the market is shaping up for 2023, covering fundraising, sector trends and special situations opportunities.