Business
DealCloud Dealmaker Pulse Survey Shows Deal Activity Is Ready to Plateau
--News Direct--45% plan to raise their largest fund ever; 14% predict a larger fund than anticipatedNine out of 10 (89%) private equity firms closed deals in
About this update from Intapp, Inc.
[{"type":"text","content":"--News Direct--45% plan to raise their largest fund ever; 14% predict a larger fund than anticipatedNine out of 10 (89%) private equity firms closed deals in the past 6 months89% also predict closing as many or more deals in the coming 6 months as they did in the previous 6 monthsThe coming 6 months will bring increasingly stiff competition for more private equity deals at higher prices that demand larger fund sizes, going beyond the significant rebound that had been reported 6 months ago, according to the autumn 2021 edition of the DealCloud Dealmaker Pulse Survey Report released today by Intapp (NASDAQ: INTA), a leading provider of industry-specific, cloud-based software solutions that enable connected professional and financial services firms. Among the 89% of private equity survey respondents who said their firms had closed deals in the past 6 months, the number of deals closed — 4.3 on average — is expected to remain the same in the coming 6 months (according to 51% of respondents) or move higher (38%).Competition for deals appears to be plateauing. More than half of survey respondents (57%) expect the deal market to become more competitive in the next 6 months than it has been during the past year, though that fraction is significantly smaller than the 67% of respondents who responded similarly 6 months ago. Of those who predict an increase in competition, 42% said there are too many PE firms chasing too few quality deals and 49% feel pressure from limited partners to put cash in play. “The industry has shown tremendous resilience through the pandemic” said Ben Harrison, President of Financial Services at Intapp. “Private equity firms have shown both the strategic clarity and agility to shift priorities, which will help them compete in the new normal.”DIMINISHING GROWTH TRENDSNearing a possible saturation point, the deal market edged further upward. Key findings include:The firms that reported having closed a deal in the last six months inched up 2% from spring to autumn 2021 (87% to 89%), a much lower rate than the 17% increase in the 6-month period between our autumn 2020 and spring 2021 survey. Looking ahead, 75% of the respondents who said their firms had not completed a deal between the spring and autumn surveys do plan to close at least one deal in the coming 6 months. Sixty percent of autumn survey respondents plan ...