PitchBook

New York City's pension system finalized a $5 billion sale of a chunk of its PE portfolio to #Blackstone on Tuesday, marking one of the largest LP-led secondary sales to a single buyer on record. Initiated in December 2024, the transaction involved around 75 PE managers across 125 funds and 450 individual commitments, according to a statement from the Office of the #NewYorkCity Comptroller. Buyouts initially reported the buyer in March. Read Jessica Hamlin's coverage of the sale here: https://pitchb.co/L86eOK

VC secondaries surge to $60 billion, but volatility dampens growth Excited to share the launch of PitchBook's newest quarterly report, US VC Secondary Market Watch, which covers key topics like dealmaking, market size, fundraising, and overall trends. 📈 The US VC direct secondary market is expanding, with an estimated size of $60 billion, up from $50 billion in 2024. However, this growth was primarily driven by soaring #unicorn valuations. 🦄 #Secondaries remain a relatively small piece of the broader venture ecosystem, accounting for just 1.9% of total unicorn value. 🔝 Transaction volume remains heavily concentrated among a small group of the most highly valued #startups, reflecting cautious buyer behavior given trade war uncertainty and public market volatility. 💸 #Liquidity pressure continues to build amid a lack of exits. Intel Capital’s plan to shed legacy VC stakes may signal the start of a wider rebalancing trend among nontraditional investors, and more startups are using #tenderoffers to give early investors and employees access to liquidity while controlling their valuations. Read the full report here (free access): https://lnkd.in/gbDPrzTa #data #preIPO #secondarymarket #venturecapital #VC #IPO

PE investment in Europe’s #aerospace and #defense sector is gathering momentum this year, with deal activity on pace to match or even exceed that seen after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. The sector has attracted around €620 million (around $703.7 million) across 12 deals, representing more than half of 2023’s €1.2 billion total. Deal activity in the sector is projected to stay strong as increased government spending boosts manufacturing and further investment. Read Emily Lai's full coverage here: https://pitchb.co/ZPhhNY

Nearly one in four unicorns became unicorns with backing from US government branches, according to a new Commonweal Ventures study. From 2003 to 2023, the federal government spent $100 billion a year on startups. Public funding played a key role in the early growth of companies including Tesla, OpenAI and Palantir Technologies. Now, one of Washington's favorite debates is the role of government in private markets. There may be a new opportunity set. Via PitchBook. https://lnkd.in/eqF5Z39y

VC investment in Europe's #fintech space is making a comeback. This year, investment is already at more than 70% of last year's total deal value. Unlike the exuberance of 2021, when cheap capital fueled a wave of frothy valuations and unsustainable growth, today's fintech startups are leaner and more revenue-focused. 🗞 Read more in this edition of The Weekly Pitch, along with the week’s top news and research from our team of industry-leading sources for info on the worlds of #VentureCapital, PE and M&A. Find it here 👇 

According to Morningstar data, assets under management at leveraged loan funds fell by $10.7 billion in April, the steepest monthly drop since March 2020 when markets were displaced by the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. Weekly outflows, which had been building amid rising #tariff tensions, peaked following the April 2 “#LiberationDay” tariff announcement, as investors shunned riskier assets. When markets broadly rebounded in late April, weekly outflows continued, and the tide only turned after the détente in the US/China trade war. Read more of PitchBook | Leveraged Commentary & Data (LCD)'s coverage here: https://pitchb.co/mGSV6o

In its largest acquisition to date, #OpenAI is buying Jony Ive’s AI hardware startup io Products for $6.5 billion. 🔗 https://pitchb.co/D8Wsmx Ive, whose design credits include the iPhone and iPad, is bringing in his expertise at a time when #AI hardware startups have floundered. The former Apple exec will take over design duties at OpenAI, with the startup’s roughly 55 employees also joining the company. The deal is the latest example of startups becoming the primary buying group of other VC-backed companies. According to #PitchBook data, in 2024, more than one-third of US #VC exits through acquisitions were completed with another VC-backed company as the buyer.

Private equity dealmaking in aerospace and defense slowed in Q1, with aggregate deal value dropping $7.7B — a 48% decline. Our latest report unpacks updated deal data across all tracked subcategories, analyzes how evolving trade policies are shaping the PE deal environment, and spotlights renewed interest in the Commercial Aerospace Parts category. “It’s clear that tariff uncertainty and reduced travel demand weighed on PE activity in aerospace & defense in Q1" said PitchBook Senior Research Analyst Jim Corridore. "However, given recent moves to curtail tariffs, we expect acceleration in deal activity as we move through 2025.” In the Q1 Aerospace & Defense Report, some of Corridore's key takeaways include: 📉 73 total deals in Q1 — down 8% from Q4 🏁 Exit activity fell to 17 exits with a value of $5.3B, down from $28B in Q4 🌐 Tariff concerns and travel demand dips likely impacted Q1 activity, but a rebound is anticipated as the year progresses Read the full Q1 2025 Aerospace & Defense Report here: https://pitchb.co/h4ol4j

The turbulence of the public markets so far this year has caused many venture-backed companies to delay their IPO plans. But within the last month, eToro went public, two digital health startups (Omada Health and Hinge Health) filed their S-1s, Discord hired a new CEO as it moves towards going public, and more. Here's my list of 8 startups to keep an eye on that will likely be the next to pass through what feels like a newly opened IPO window. https://lnkd.in/gCRdX5hk

👏 Thank you to our amazing panelists and attendees for making PitchBook | LCD’s inaugural London Breakfast Briefing event a great success! 📊 At this event, we discussed European credit trends and our current market outlook—from more competitive buyout spreads to growing leverage in direct lending. 💡 Download the full deck for our analysts’ latest insights on leveraged loans, private credit, CLOs, and more here: https://pitchb.co/rldcJd