International Comparative Legal Guide – Private Equity 2024 - 2025

For the sixth consecutive year, Dechert is the contributing editor of the International Comparative Legal Guide - Private Equity. The guide, now in its tenth edition, is one of the most comprehensive comparative guides to private equity (PE), serving as a valuable reference source for in-house counsel and international legal practitioners, covering common issues in PE laws and regulations – including structuring matters, governance matters, and transaction terms in 19 jurisdictions.

Members of Dechert’s Global Private Equity practice, celebrating its 40th anniversary guiding clients through dynamic deal environments,  offer an overview of market trends and an industry outlook for 2024 and beyond, as well as the country chapters relating to the United States and the United Kingdom.

2024 and Beyond: Private Equity Outlook for 2025

Introduction

The global PE industry continues to face macroeconomic headwinds, and the second half of 2024 is expected to continue presenting uncertainties.  Elevated interest rates, valuation gaps, competition for limited deals, new and old geopolitical risks, uncertainty surrounding the U.S., U.K. and French elections (among others), and heightened regulatory scrutiny have marked the continued slowdown in PE deal and fundraising activity in the first half of 2024.  Despite such challenges, the need to make distributions, pent-up demand and an ever-increasing buildup of dry powder have put pressure on the PE industry to remain nimble and pursue transactions including alternative liquidity solutions, on the one hand, and re-assess their deployment strategies, on the other hand.

Read the full expert chapter "2024 and Beyond: Private Equity Outlook for 2025"

United States: Private Equity 2024 - 2025 Overview

U.S. PE deal activity during 2023 and the first half of 2024 remained low as high interest rates and inflation made exits and fundraising difficult for sponsors.  While PE firms continue to have record levels of dry powder at their disposal, fundraising activity was down, as the age of buyout dry powder increased, putting pressure on GPs to deploy capital in an environment where conditions were not ideal.  Risk-averse lenders have continued to make access to debt financing difficult.  With the slowdown in PE exit activity and fewer exits (and, as a result, GP distributions), LPs have been left with less capital to invest in new funds.  The foregoing, coupled with a limited number of high-quality assets available in the market, has made the current landscape for PE challenging.

Read the full chapter “United States: Private Equity 2024 - 2025”

United Kingdom: Private Equity 2024 - 2025 Overview

The most common types of PE transactions in the UK centre around leveraged buyouts (in the form of share and asset acquisitions), take-private transactions, flotations and bolt-on transactions. Accompanying a majority of these transactions will also be the leveraged financing/refinancing of such deals from a variety of debt sources. In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, 2021 represented a record year for PE transactions in the UK.  The years since have been buffeted by features such as high inflation rates, which have slowed the market somewhat when compared to the 2021 highs. However, there is a degree of optimism for the market in 2024, as inflation falls and it is anticipated that high interest rates (and other impediments) may abate to some degree.

Read the full chapter “United Kingdom: Private Equity 2024 - 2025” 

Access the full guide “International Comparative Legal Guide – Private Equity 2024 - 2025”