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PRIVATE EQUITY: BUYOUTS
Another year of modest fundraising allowed global buyout funds to work off
another $150 billion of the global capital overhang over the past year.
Fundraising for global buyouts increased year-over-year, while the pace of
investing was relatively flat. Global exit activity also was essentially unchanged
as measured by number of transactions, but modestly higher in terms of
value. Dividend recaps picked up in the fourth quarter and set a new record
for the year. 1 Robust credit markets facilitated these partial liquidity events
and the attractive credit terms are likely to continue into 2013.
Buyout Fundraising and Investing
Buyout funds raised $88.4 billion in new capital commitments in 2012, a 12%
increase over the prior year. 2 The number of funds raising capital declined by
6% in 2012 despite the increase in fundraising. Commitments to U.S. and
European funds both increased in 2012, while less capital was raised for
funds based in Asia and other global markets. Just over half of all funds
raised were in the U.S.
Globally, buyout funds invested significantly more capital than was raised
during the year. In 2012, $256.7 billion was invested in 2,904 deals. Over the
past three years, a similar pace of activity has reduced the overhang of capital
by over $500 billion. 3
Global Buyout - Fundraising
$300
$250
$200
$150
$100
$50
Commitments ( billions) Global Buyout - Fundraising
$0
Source: Preqin
U.S. Europe
Rest of World Number of Funds
2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012
Page 8
300
250
200
150
100
50
0
Number of Funds
FOURTH QUARTER 2012
James W. Angelica
Senior Research Analyst
“Over the past three
years, a similar pace of
activity has reduced the
overhang of capital by
over $500 billion.”
© 2013 Fund Evaluation Group, LLC