In a bid to free up funding for other investments, Caisse de Depot et Placement du Quebec (CDPQ) is considering selling up to $2bn in private equity assets via the secondary market, according to a report by Bloomberg.
The report cites unnamed sources with knowledge of the matter as saying that CDPQ, Canada’s second largest pension manager with about CAD424bn ($307bn) in assets, is considering several options and may eventually decide to sell a smaller stake or even retain the assets.
The potential move comes with the dealmaking market in a prolonged slump due to the higher cost of borrowing meaning that PE managers are finding it more difficult to exit investments and return cash to investor.
The report cites data from effigies Financial Group as highlighting that limited partners transactions in the secondaries market totalled $25bn worldwide in the first half of the year, accounting for 58% of the entire secondaries market, as institutional investors became more active in managing their PE portfolios.
