Private equity run of barren returns worse than in run-up to 2008 Investing Private equity funds returned fewer profits to investors for a record fourth year running in 2025, according to a report from industry juggernaut Bain & Co which warned that fundraising for new funds had become a “slow and difficult slog”. Distributions as a percentage of net asset value (NAV), which denotes how much private equity [...]
Private markets suffer ‘reality check’ as fundraising dries up Markets Private markets fundraising fell to a decade low across Europe in 2025, after a slowdown in dealmaking and stuttering performance led major buyout shops to struggle to return cash to investors. According to a fresh analysis of the sector, a dearth of new mega fund raises and “persistent liquidity constraints” across the industry led fundraising [...]
‘Disappointment’ and muted activity: Dealmakers sour on UK market Markets UK dealmakers’ faith in the economy has slumped to its lowest in nine years with executives blaming a string of policy blunders and a sluggish deal environment for weighing on market activity. Over half of Britain’s private equity and corporate finance bosses feel negative about the next 18-24 months, according to a fresh poll of [...]
Advisory giant Teneo valued at £1.7bn in fresh deal August 4, 2025 Advisory firm Teneo has received fresh backing from a top Liechtensteiner buyout firm valuing it at $2.3bn (£1.73bn), in a deal that suggests the malaise afflicting the world’s largest holding companies and consultancies is not extending to more specialist or diversified firms. LGT Capital Partners is backed by Liechtenstein’s royal family and has over $100bn [...]
Carried interest: London’s dealmakers bask in rare lobbying win June 17, 2025 Rachel Reeves went into the 2024 general election promising to close the “carried interest loophole” long-enjoyed by “asset stripping” private equity executives. So far, though, the sector has escaped the worst of Labour’s promised crackdown, writes Ali Lyon. For someone who once argued private equity was full of asset strippers driving beloved British businesses to [...]
Santander rejected £11bn Natwest bid for UK business May 9, 2025 Santander rebuffed an £11bn bid for its UK retail banking division from Natwest earlier this year because it was was too low. The two lenders are no longer in negotiations, according to people familliar with the matter cited by the Financial Times, despite consistent speculation about the fate of the Spanish financial juggernaut’s UK business. [...]
UK private equity deals crash to pandemic lows April 10, 2025 UK private equity deals crashed to their lowest level since 2020 in the first quarter of this year, as a tepid IPO market and geopolitical uncertainty continued to hamper dealmaking. There were only 320 private equity deals in the first quarter of 2025, totalling £18bn, compared to 534 deals totalling £28.2bn in the quarter before, [...]
Private equity market bullish on resurgence in deals March 26, 2025 Private equity chiefs have become bullish for a surge in deals this year, in a rare piece of good news for the London Stock Exchange. When polled, 79 per cent of private equity general partners said they were expecting returns to rise this year, compared to just 24 per cent in 2024, data from Investec [...]
Foreign takeovers surge as buyers strike megadeals December 12, 2024 The foreign takeover raid on UK companies accelerated this year as international buyers struck a series of mega deals to acquire listed companies. In the ten months to the end of October, deals launched by foreign buyers with a UK target had jumped 55 per cent to $116bn (£91bn), with the number of deals increasing [...]
Foreign firms launch £7.8bn summer deals raid on British companies December 3, 2024 A raid by international firms on UK companies accelerated over the summer as foreign buyers kicked off deals worth some £7.8bn – even as domestic mergers and acquisitions (M&A) slumped. Foreign spending on UK companies rose by 16 per cent between July and September, thanks in part to the $976m (£769m) swoop by US-based Quanex [...]