PE VP Forum Recap | December 2022

Every quarter we gather Vice Presidents in PE to discuss current industry topics and to offer these peers the chance to gather, share information, and decompress with one another. In our most recent event, we discussed the current state of the economy, debt markets, and the outlook for 2023.

These forums are invite-only and follow Chatham House Rules, so listed below are high-level takeaways only. If you are a private equity vice president and interested in joining fellow PE VPs during our next forum, you can register here.

Economy and Debt Markets

• The state of the economy has compelled PE firms to be more intentional with their investment theses.
• With rising interest rates, inflation, and recession risk, the debt markets have been curtailed, causing private equity firms to rethink how they structure deals.
• As debt financing becomes less available, PE firms are becoming more creative to get deals done – including increasingly utilizing commercial lenders, and non-traditional funding sources.

Outlook for 2023

Looking ahead to 2023, private equity firms are developing strategic plans for their portfolio companies to find opportunities in the face of recession and determine where to deploy their capital in a relatively volatile deal market.

• Many are expecting the first half of the year to be challenging, but are foreseeing a recovery later in the year if/as interest rates and inflation stabilize.
• Different industries have been impacted differently by the economic downturn.
• PE firms are proactively building value by using internal and external resources to do whatever they can to lift portfolio company revenues, optimize costs, increase cash flows and liquidity, and get the right people in place.

We thoroughly enjoyed getting to gather with PE VPs to discuss these current industry hot topics. We’d be happy to connect you to the PE-grade, exact-fit, third-party resources you need to assist you in this pressurized market, just contact us here.

Learn more about how we can specifically help Deal Quarterbacks here.