Secondary Transactions on Pace to Reach $100bn This Year

The market for secondhand stakes in private-markets assets is expected to hit a milestone this year, as strong investment performance has encouraged more institutional investors and fund managers to explore sales.

Buyers and intermediaries say this year they expect total secondary transaction volume to reach, if not exceed, $100 billion for the first time ever, as the market enters what has historically been its busiest quarter.

The private equity secondaries market is seeing a sharp uptick in first-time allocations marking a sea change in fortunes for a once unloved asset class.

Free Webinar: The Future State of M&A: Gaining the Competitive Edge with Digitalization

Learn More
  • Common barriers GPs face during the M&A process
  • How AI and machine learning can optimise the M&A process
  • The outlook for M&A in 2022

According to research from investment bank Jefferies Group, private market secondary sales set a H1 record in 2021, with transactions rising to a total of $48bn, eclipsing the previous record high of $42bn of secondary volume transactions in 2019. In the first half of 2020, transaction flows totalled $18bn, impacted by the drop in deal flow during the early stages of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Source: Wall Street Journal

Can’t stop reading? Read more