We’ve seen renewed momentum in deal activity this year, but challenges persist. Here, our Private Equity & Industrials Lead, Peter Keller, offers his take on the key developments in his sector this year, as well as an overview of the market in 2025.
As we progress towards the end of 2024, we’ve seen that the private equity transactions landscape has gained momentum, buoyed by growing confidence among sellers and buyers. Key economic indicators, including declining inflation, the resolution of election uncertainties, lower interest rates, and the prospect of stronger GDP growth in 2025, are providing much-needed stability and clarity. Such factors are without doubt fostering optimism across the market, reflected in improved deal flow in Q3 and Q4 2024.
Despite this renewed momentum in deal activity, it is clear 2024 has not been without its challenges. Looking back at the past 12 months, we have witnessed a number of key trends, including:
Heightened pressure to exit and deliver returns
Market volatility continued to deter exits, leading to a significant portion of portfolios exceeding the typical four-to-five-year holding period. According to a recent report by JP Morgan regarding exit activity in the US market, ‘PE investors that purchased assets in the pre-COVID years have been holding on to companies longer as they wait for a better exit environment. The average holding period of companies extended from 5.1 years in 2021 to 6.4 years in 2023, the highest since 2015’.
This has been further compounded with a renewed focus on positioning firms to present stronger last 12 months results, especially as businesses recover from periods of stress. All too often there has been a mismatch between seller and buyer valuations. With limited partners demanding capital distributions, there is renewed pressure to achieve successful exits and deliver returns.
Enhancing value creation
To meet these challenges, PE firms doubled down on operational and strategic support for their portfolio companies. This includes leveraging in-house operating partners, engaging interim executives, or enlisting external expertise to drive revenue growth, expand margins, and prepare businesses for smooth exits.
Active involvement is essential in today’s market. By focusing on core business improvements over financial engineering, private equity firms can build portfolio value that bridges today’s valuation gaps. Though this approach typically requires longer holding periods, it delivers meaningful value enhancements that can justify higher valuations, even in a high-interest rate environment.
Shift toward secondary markets
Secondary sales, continuation vehicles and NAV-based lending emerged as critical tools to unlock liquidity, enabling general partners to manage portfolio timelines and provide distributions to limited partners without prematurely selling undervalued assets.
According to The Economist, the sector ‘is three times larger than a decade ago’. Increasingly in the United States ‘secondary buy-outs can exceed the volume of initial public offerings’.
The rise of these alternative exit strategies reflected a broader shift toward innovative solutions for managing the evolving demands of the private equity ecosystem and are likely to persist into 2025.
Outlook for executive search in private equity for 2025
Lower interest rates and a stabilising macroeconomic environment should drive a revival in deal-making. That said, the implications of Trump 2.0 for private equity in both North America and Europe are difficult to predict. Key areas worth watching include taxes, deregulation, tariffs, trade, and inflation. It is impossible to predict which policy initiatives a new president will actually implement, but also the effect such policies could have on the private equity ecosystem.
2024 has reminded us that private equity has a unique ability to be nimble and adapt. We look forward to continuing to support our private equity clients as they navigate both the challenges and opportunities that 2025 will bring.
A word to my network
I’d like to wish everyone reading this a very happy and peaceful holiday season! If you would like assistance with executive search solutions in private equity and/or industrials in 2025, look no further – I’d love to hear from you.