Private equity firms are scaling back on new deals and redirecting their attention to managing existing portfolio companies, as market turbulence sparked by fresh US tariffs under Donald Trump makes asset pricing increasingly uncertain, according to a report by the Financial Times.
The reports cites several senior buyout executives as highlighting the heightened risk of recession and volatile macro conditions as reasons for the slowdown. “There is a pause… it’s hard to price things,” said one US-based executive. A UK firm leader added: “Private equity will go really risk-off for a while. At times like this we become more focused on what we already have.”
This marks a stark reversal from earlier industry optimism that the new US administration would usher in a wave of deal activity following a prolonged dry spell due to high interest rates. Instead, many firms are now in “triage mode”, working to protect and reposition their existing assets amid economic headwinds.
While some transactions have proceeded — such as Silver Lake’s stake in chip designer Altera and KKR’s acquisition of Karo Healthcare — other processes have stalled. UK-based 3i has paused the £600m auction of Audley Travel, while Apax’s £4bn sale of insurance broker PIB and Boeing’s sale of its navigation unit have seen repeated delays. One firm reportedly trimmed its bid on Reckitt’s $4bn–$5bn homecare brand portfolio to the $3bn–$4bn range, casting doubt on the deal’s completion.
An adviser familiar with the market said many firms have gone “pens down” as they wait for pricing clarity and stability to return.
With deals on pause, firms are refocusing on operational resilience across their existing investments. Partners Group, for instance, has already taken steps to reroute supply chains away from China in anticipation of prolonged trade disruption. “The signs were pretty clear that something would happen,” said head of private equity Wolf-Henning Scheider. The firm is now modelling further market disturbances to ensure portfolio resilience.
Even before this latest volatility, GPs had employed a variety of capital release strategies — including NAV-based fund-level financing and continuation vehicles — to generate liquidity without outright exits. However, growing investor resistance to NAV lending has slowed its usage, pushing firms to lean more on continuation structures to return capital to LPs.
