Shades Of 2013: PE Exits Hit $273B by PitchBook
PE exits slide in first half, Strategics remain strong
- $273 billion in exits across 1,067 sales in 1H 2016
- On pace to exit $546B across 2,134 deals for the year, down 15% and 13% respectively from 2015
- Strategic acquirers dominate playing field, accounting for 73% of all PE-backed exit value in 1H 2016
- Exit valuations experience drop from 2015 highs, though still historically strong
- IPOs’ median time to exit reaches new high of 5.4 years, more than double that of ‘07-’08
- Median time to exit by strategic acquisition & SBO remains steady
- Investment-to-exit multiple same as 2015 due to simultaneous dampening of both PE investments and exits thus far in 2016
Corporate Acquisitions
- $199B in exits across 566 sales in 1H 2016, slightly behind last year’s record-setting pace
- Strategics account for 53% of all PE-backed exits and 73% of PE-backed exit value
- Median acquisition EV/EBITDA falls to 8.7x– still high by historical standards
- Median acquisition size down 14% from 2015, to $142M– limited supply of quality targets
Secondary Buyouts
- SBO exit value on pace to be 32% below 2015 levels
- SBOs make up 44% of all PE-backed exits, and 23% of exit value
- Valuation-to-EBITDA fell to 7.3x in 1H 2016, lowest since 2009– reflects growing fears of volatility ahead
- Median deal size down 20% from 2015, to $191M
PE-backed Public Offerings
- On pace to exit $12 billion across 33 sales in 1H 2016, down 46% and 37% respectively from 2015
- None of the companies to go public in 1H 2016 listed above the high end of their target price range
- IPOs fall to just 4% of PE-backed exit value– reflects the increasingly popular “stay-private” strategy
PE-backed Inventory
- There were more than 14,000 PE-backed companies in N. America and Europe midway through the year
- 930 of those (6% of the total) found new PE ownership in just the last six months, while 16% of PE inventory still dates to pre-2008
