How busy will the private equity market be in 2024?
Looking ahead to 2024 the financial services market holds more promising prospects than 2023 driven by the substantial cash reserve amassed in the private equity sector, with record levels of available capital, it is looking like there will be a significant amount of positive growth in 2024 hopefully this positions the financial services market for increased investment, with more opportunities of strategic moves, expansion and deal activity, suggesting a more buoyant outlook for 2024 than 2023.
2023: A tale of two halves
2023 started rather slowly for this space, with a 29% reduction in deal flow in H1 compared to the end of 2022. This had a knock-on effect to the legal talent market where we saw a reduction in hiring for private equity houses and portfolio companies in general.
In regards to the types of deals, the majority were mid-market bolts ons and as a result we saw redundancies on one side or another.
Throughout the second half of 2023 the private equity market began to shift and market positivity started to return. Not only was there growth in legal recruitment but also across the investment market. There was an increase of 63% in deal announcements and 93 of those deals were over $100m. There was also a move away from non-leveraged deals, so we saw more variety in deal type
2024 predictions
As we start 2024, it has been widely publicised that private equity businesses are holding significant amounts of cash reserve. This is estimated at about £2.59 trillion. It remains to be seen if this will allow for a return of a busy M&A market, but early signs are positive.
We anticipate sustained demand for legal professionals in private equity in 2024, driven by increased deal activities, regulatory compliance, and complex transactions.
Taylor Root and the private equity market
Taylor Root alongside the whole of The SR Group, has built up a very specific track record of working with private equity businesses to build out their legal teams. And in addition, many of their portfolio companies. More specifically,
- Supporting portfolio businesses with key individual and team hires
- Building M&A related functions within insurance, consultancies and law firms
For example, in the last five years as a group we have made 99 placements into private equity houses and 631 into private equity backed businesses.
For more information on our work with private equity businesses and their portfolio companies please contact Nikki Newton.
