The second edition of our survey confirms and reinforces the sense of optimism for which the private equity community is known. In an uncertain environment, investors have proven resilient and are seeking new opportunities in the immediate term, while expertly settling into remote working conditions. If the political environment remains more settled and capital continues to be made available, then we can expect private equity to actively remain on the lookout for investment opportunities.
Stéphane Pithois Global Head of M&A, Mazars
Covid-19 and the world of private equity
Against the backdrop of the Covid-19 pandemic, the Mazars Global Financial Advisory team surveyed private equity funds and investors to gauge their level of optimism, understand their challenges and concerns for the future and hear about their response strategy.
We published two reports based on our findings:
- ‘Covid-19 and the world of private equity: optimism in an uncertain environment’, February 2021
- ‘Covid-19 and the world of private equity', June 2020
The most recent report finds the investor market to be generally more optimistic than in 2020, focused on new opportunities and comfortable completing deals from home. Respondents predict revenues to fall less severely over the next 12 months than previously expected, a U-shaped recovery and shorter delays to their exit strategies than earlier predicted.
Our June 2020 report found investors to be seeking new deal opportunities despite expected falls in revenue among their portfolio companies and predicted no wider ‘return to normal’ until 2021.
Key findings from the reports (2021 vs 2020):
- 91% of respondents in February 2021 were looking for investment opportunities vs 74% in June 2020
- 39% focusing on originating new platform opportunities vs 20%
- 70% finding more distressed opportunities in the market vs 54%
- 51% expecting exit timings would be delayed vs 79%
- 65% believe their government has responded well to the pandemic vs 51%
Download the two reports below to find out more.
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