100: Private Equity Co-investments with Neuberger Berman

It is our 100th episode of the [i3] Podcast and we are celebrating this with an in-depth discussion on innovation in private equity, especially mid-life transactions, with David Morse, Managing Director and Global Co-Head of Private Equity Co-Investments at Neuberger Berman. Enjoy the show!   Overview of Podcast with David Morse of Neuberger Berman 01:00 Starting in mid-market lending, but liking what the guys on the other side of the table did more 03:30 Deal flow in Private Equity has been low and portfolio companies are for more than 6 years, an eternity in PE 06:00 Prior to 2022, you had the “rocket fuel of private equity”, cheap debt and distributions exceeded capital calls. But you get to the third quarter of 2022 and all of those sources of liquidity have dried up 09:00 What we saw was that seller expectation was still quite high, but buyer expectations had come down dramatically, because the cost of capital had gone up 12:30 Today, PE transactions are not leveraged buyouts anymore, it is a very equity heavy transaction 16:30 Mid life transactions are co-investments into the private equity space. They focus on companies that have been owned for a few years, but are still performing well and needs capital to continue its value creation plan 19:00 When you are a GP, there are really only three sources of capital: private debt, secondaries (continuation funds) and co-investments (including mid life deals) 22:00 The problem in PE is not the returns, it is the distribution. And that is why there is an opportunity for private debt, secondaries and co-investments 25:00 Should we re-lever assets? 31:00 Distribution levels are at their lowest since 2010 and so LPs say: ‘I cannot commit to your next fund until I see some cash back’. If you ask me who is going to blink first, seller expectation vs buyer expectation, then I’m going to say seller expectation first. 33:00 Investment banks told us that their backlog of signed M&A agreements was higher in Q1 of 2024 compared to Q1 2021, the record exit year of all time. 35:30 The deal flow that has collapsed is one private equity firm selling to another private equity firm 37:30 In terms of the deal being done, we’ve seen a shift towards up market 38:30 We subscribe to not just interest rates ‘higher for longer’, but ‘higher forever’