Robert Seminara, head of Europe at Apollo Global Management, has reported a noticeable rise in private equity deal activity, and is forecasting attractive returns for investors entering the market now, according to a report by Bloomberg.
The report quotes Seminara as saying in an interview with Bloomberg TV that: “We’re seeing a convergence in buyer and seller expectations, which is driving an uptick in transactions,” which also highlighting investor pressure for capital returns as a key factor behind the recent surge in activity. “We’ve been very active, deploying $2bn in Europe alone recently,” he added.
Seminara’s comments came as the private equity industry gathered for the IPEM conference in Paris. While the global mergers and acquisitions (M&A) landscape has been sluggish, making it challenging for firms to return capital to investors, many in the industry are optimistic, particularly as interest rates remain stable or are expected to decline.
Mark Benedetti, executive president at Ardian SAS, echoed this sentiment, predicting robust private equity deal flow in the fourth quarter of this year and into early 2024. He noted that around 25% of capital raised for buyouts has remained undeployed for over four years, putting pressure on managers to start investing as they approach the typical five-year investment window.
“Groups need to start putting capital to work,” Benedetti said on Bloomberg TV. He added that the gap between bid and ask prices should begin to narrow. However, the market for mid-cap initial public offerings (IPOs) remains stalled, according to Benedetti.
