World Economic Forum - 2008 Private Equity Report
October 1st, 2008See below an excellent report providing insight into the global private equity marketplace. Published by the World Economic Forum and titled Globalization of Alternative Investments - The Global Economic Impact of Private Equity 2008 the report analyzed over 21,000 private equity transactions between 1970 and 2007.
Interesting investment activity related findings include;
- 42% of private equity transactions are exited within 5 years (most firms from our coverage within PEdatabase tend to mention a target investment horizon of 3 - 5 years)
- US and Western European private equity activity represent all but 12% of the global total
- Continual shift from investments in just mature/traditional industries such as machinery and retail toward increased buyout activity in high-growth/tech related industries (makes sense given growth of specialist/crossover firms such as Silver Lake, Technology Crossover Ventures, and Summit Partners)
- Most common avenue for exit is sale to a strategic buyer (39% of total)
The report also analyzes private equity ownership in regards to “employment”, “governance”, and “long-run investment” commitments.
October 1st, 2008 at 9:08 pm
Wow, this is a really in depth report. I’ll be pouring over this for the next few days I’m sure.
I’m surprised that only 12% comes from Western Euro and U.S. private equity activity, I thought it would be a lot higher given that it includes 37 years worth of data. Thanks for sharing this.