PE Sector Focus

Private equity and venture capital research, reports and surveys with a focus on specific PE sectors

More articles

• Private Equity Observations – Golden age of secondaries? 26 Aug 2009. Source: Permal Capital Management. With the collapse in private equity fundraising following record-setting years from 2005-2008, the global decline of public equity markets, frozen credit markets around the world and aggressive asset allocation strategies employed by many institutional investors, the private equity industry and its investors have been beset by challenges in the last year.

• Monthly European Technology Venture Capital Bulletin - August 2009 14 Aug 2009. Source: Go4Venture. After a somewhat dismal July in which we recorded investment value 56 per cent lower than for the same month last year, our August Headline Transaction Index (HTI) numbers appear a bit brighter. We tracked 19 investments with a total investment value of €151m, 57 per cent higher than €96m in investment value for 17 deals in the same month last year.

• Factors of success for secondary investing in the current market environment 24 Jul 2009. Source: AltAssets. The market for private equity secondaries has seen significant changes since the onset of the global financial and economic crisis. Based on Partners Group’s experience the following paper identifies key success factors for secondary investing under these new market conditions. These factors include the proactive sourcing of transactions, a thorough analysis of underlying assets as well as execution excellence in order to take full advantage of the current market disruptions.

• Monthly European Technology Venture Capital Bulletin - July 2009 14 Jul 2009. Source: Go4Venture. For our July 2009 Headline Transaction Index (HTI), we tracked 29 investments with a total of €153m. This compares to 39 deals for the same month last year, for a value of €347m, representing a drop in value of 56 per cent. The difference may appear to be on par with the one month decrease on a year-over-year basis seen in January 2009 (-57 per cent), however if we take into consideration that the largest deal tracked in 2008 occurred in July, Sulfurcell Solartechnik’s €85m series C round, the difference appears less severe. Without Sulfurcell Solartechnik, the total amount of funding in July 2009 is down 41 per cent when compared to the same month last year.

• Monthly European Technology Venture Capital Bulletin - June 2009 14 Jun 2009. Source: Go4Venture. In June 2009, our HTI index tracked 30 investments with a total investment value of €127m, representing a 23 per cent drop when compared to the same month a year before. In May 2008, we tracked nearly the same number of deals, 29, but with a total value of €164m.

• Capital Dynamics: Perspectives - a view of the private equity secondaries market 03 Jun 2009. Source: Capital Dynamics. The markets continue to be difficult. Banks are still struggling and availability of longer term liquidity remains low. Most major economies are in a recession and it is currently unclear when the bottom will be reached. The global economic difficulties are also reflected in low valuations in the public markets which are increasingly reflected in private equity valuations. This is easing the pressure on private equity allocations. What seems more daunting is the possible liquidity issues that arise once draw downs start to pick up which we expect to happen prior to the increase in distributions. In addition, the current uncertainty drives up secondary market discounts with the result that there are few sellers at the prices buyers are willing to offer. Thus, currently the secondary market is relatively quiet. Much is being evaluated, but little is transacting. However, with increasing stabilization of the economic situation and an increasing liquidity pressure we expect the bid-ask spread to narrow and activity to pick up.

• Monthly European Technology Venture Capital Bulletin - May 2009 14 May 2009. Source: Go4Venture. Our HTI index continues to be affected by the overall economic downturn and lower venture funding in Europe. YTD funding according to our HTI as of May 2009 was €652m, down 31 per cent from €949m at this same point last year.

• Monthly European Technology Venture Capital Bulletin - April 2009 14 Apr 2009. Source: Go4Venture. For our April 2009 Headline Transaction Index (HTI), we tracked 33 investments with a total of €124.2m. From a number of transactions stand point, this is in line with the 30 deals in this same month a year ago, but total deal value is lower by 32 per cent.

• Enormous opportunities beyond the sun 07 Apr 2009. Source: Wellington Partners. Clean technologies are not needed just for energy generation - the cleantech market is much larger, writes Bart Markus of Wellington Partners.

• Israel VC indicator survey Q4 2008 25 Feb 2009. Source: Deloitte. The global financial crisis and resultant stock market crash reflect the outlook for 2009. Despite a slight softening in expectations for the economic climate worsening, the general outlook is still pessimistic. Sixty eight per cent of respondents believe that the overall economic climate will worsen over the next six months (compared to 81 per cent in Q3 2008). At the same time, 15 per cent believe that it will remain the same and a small minority of seven per cent believes that the economic climate will improve over the next six months (compared to four per cent in Q3 2008), according to the Deloitte Brightman Almagor Zohar Israel VC Indicator Survey.

• Venture investment in clean technology accelerates significantly in 2008, despite economic uncertainty, MoneyTree Report 10 Feb 2009. Source: National Venture Capital Association (NVCA), PricewaterhouseCoopers. Venture capitalists invested $28.3bn in 3,808 deals in 2008, marking the first yearly decline of total investments since 2003, according to the MoneyTree Report by PricewaterhouseCoopers and the National Venture Capital Association (NVCA), based on data from Thomson Reuters.

• Study on the impact of venture capital in Canada on economy, jobs and innovation 03 Feb 2009. Source: CVCA. The impact of venture capital-backed companies on the Canadian economy is quite significant: totalling close to 150,000 jobs (1.3 per cent of all private sector employees) and nearly 1 per cent of GDP. The impact on growth is also important, since venture capital-backed companies which responded to the study grow more than five times faster than the overall economy. Moreover, their impact on innovation and exports is very substantial, according to this report by Canada's Venture Capital and Private Equity Association (CVCA).

• 2008 summary of Israeli high-tech company capital raising 03 Feb 2009. Source: IVC. In 2008, 483 Israeli high-tech companies raised $2.08bn from local and foreign venture investors, 18 per cent above the $1.76bn raised in 2007 and 28 per cent above 2006 levels, according to this survey from the IVC Research Center. This survey reviews capital raised by private Israeli high-tech companies from Israeli venture capital funds and from other investors. The survey is based on reports from 82 venture investors, of which 48 are Israeli management companies and 34 are other, mostly foreign, investment entities.

• Venture capital in CEE 12 Jan 2009. Source: AltAssets. The venture capital industry in Europe is still so small that many investors ignore it, but could venture in CEE bring a whole new meaning to European venture in a few years' time?

• Monthly European Technology Venture Capital Bulletin - November 2008 07 Jan 2009. Source: Go4Venture. Go4Venture's Headline Transactions Index, which captures transactions reported in the professional press, was still riding high towards the end of last year. The December figures (which will be published this month) seem to be showing a similar trend: the HTI is holding up, according to Go4Venture's latest bulletin.

• Venture capitalists predict a difficult 2009 07 Jan 2009. Source: NVCA. US venture capitalists are forecasting a difficult 2009 for the country's economy, the capital markets, and the venture industry as the global financial crisis takes its toll on the entrepreneurial ecosystem. According to the respondents of the third annual National Venture Capital Association (NVCA) Predictions Survey, the coming year will be met with a slowdown in investing across most sectors and a continued weakened exit market. However, most VCs surveyed predict a recovery in 2010 when the IPO market is expected to re-open and those companies and venture firms that weathered the storm will emerge strongly, according to the NVCA survey.

• Monthly European Technology Venture Capital Bulletin - October 2008 17 Dec 2008. Source: Go4Venture. Once more, the Go4Venture's Headline Transaction Index, which captures transactions reported in the professional press, is holding up, just as the venture capital industry prepares itself for a contraction (the length of which is anybody's guess). Why such an apparent discrepancy, asks Go4Venture in the firm's latest bulletin.

• European venture capital: a model is born 26 Nov 2008. Source: Cyril Demaria. The gloom affecting financial markets seems to put a certain pressure on European venture capital investors. Even though out of reach of the credit crunch, venture capital will face difficult times with regard to the development of portfolio companies in a recession, says financial journalist Cyril Demaria. Sequoia Capital, in a widely commented presentation, has drawn drastic conclusions and advises its portfolio companies to radically cut their expenditures.

• Venture capital buying opportunity 18 Nov 2008. Source: Oxford Capital. David Mott, Investment Director. Despite the global credit crisis and emerging recession, it is arguable that today's market conditions offer the best buying opportunity for venture capital funds since 2001. There are currently a large number of high quality deals in the sustainability, healthcare and communications sectors where valuations are lower than in previous years. This, coupled with the opportunity to benefit from tax breaks, makes investments in innovative companies over the next 12 to 18 months an enticing prospect, says David Mott, investment director at Oxford Capital.

• Monthly European Technology Venture Capital Bulletin - September 2008 04 Nov 2008. Source: Go4Venture. While the financial mayhem continues with ongoing uncertainty as to whether public authority actions worldwide are convincing markets to call off their free fall, Go4Venture's Headline Transaction Index (HTI) continues to show some strong figures. September 2008 is virtually level with September the year before, which confirms: the market is focusing on larger, quality opportunities even if overall market figures (including smaller deals) are on a downward trend. In short, speculative propositions will take the brunt of the market adjustment, therefore pre-revenue, early stage companies are seeing the biggest drop. Revenue-generating companies delivering cost savings and/or close-to-fashionable areas where end user demand is strong (such as cleantech or medtech) will continue to do well.

• Venture capital 2.0 08 Oct 2008. Source: Cyril Demaria. For the first time since 1978, there was no venture capital-backed IPO in the US during a quarter, making the second quarter of 2008 the worst on the EVCA records. This was attributed to the consequences of the liquidity crisis - but is this so? In October 2006, Steve Dow already launched a first statement which rippled through the venture capital sphere, by declaring that the venture capital model was 'broken'. Too much money chasing too few deals, not enough exits, no real perspectives of substantial profits on the short term: the diagnosis was severe, especially from this seasoned partner at Sevin Rosen. This was in fact the mark of a much needed revolution in the venture capital world, writes Cyril Demaria.

• Venture capital returns have historically outperformed the market, but with a high degree of volatility 01 Oct 2008. Source: Momentum Venture Management. Over the long term , venture capital returns have been higher than the stock markets. However, the cyclical variations of returns highlight the volatility of the venture industry, according to Momentum Venture Management.

• Recent developments in the European private equity markets 01 Oct 2008. Source: The Directorate-General for Economic and Financial Affairs (ECFIN). Kristiina Raade, Catarina Dantas Machado. This paper from the Directorate-General Economic and Financial Affairs of the European Commission examines market developments in venture capital and buy-out investment in Europe and the US through the analysis of funds raised, investments and exits. It discusses the profitability differential of European venture capital investment in comparison with the US and suggests that it could originate in the different ways in which research is financed and the unequal supply of financing, notably from business angels, for young companies that are not sufficiently mature for venture capital financing.