Private equity markets are at a watershed moment. A structural increase in competition, driven by dry powder accumulation, and capital market dislocation, are causing a significant decrease in exit liquidity and creating a scarcity of high-quality investment opportunities.

In our latest report, we uncover the following:

• How the single-asset secondary segment can account for 4%-8% of overall European PE exit activity, or €10bn-€20bn p.a., by 2025.

• Depending on pace of growth in the segment, concentrated GP-led deals could account for almost a fifth of sponsor-to-sponsor exit deal flow by 2025, effectively reallocating some of the top-quartile opportunities institutional investors previously accessed via direct managers to secondary capital pools.

• The drivers of the growth in Europe’s single-asset secondary space, from both a GP and LP perspective, including superior returns, a more attractive opportunity set at a time of heightened competition for assets, greater alignment between partners, better control over portfolio construction and preferable cashflow profile to a traditional primary buyout fund.

Hayfin today announces that, through its Private Equity Solutions strategy, it is acting as lead investor, together with Eurazeo, in the €220 million Continuation Fund raised by 21 Invest France to support the next phase of its ownership of ProductLife Group (“PLG”).

PLG is a global expert in regulatory affairs and compliance consulting for the healthcare industry. Serving more than 1,000 clients ranging from pharmaceutical companies, biotech and medtech companies, the group covers the entire lifecycle of pharmaceutical products, from development to post-marketing vigilance, across more than 150 countries. The company has expanded rapidly, driven by double-digit organic growth and 16 acquisitions in nine countries since 2020.

In addition to its management team, which is reinvesting significantly, PLG will be jointly controlled by Oakley Capital and 21 Invest France, which is reinvesting through its sixth fund vintage and the newly established Continuation Fund led by Hayfin and Eurazeo. Other investors are joining in syndication.

Gonzalo Erroz, Managing Director, Private Equity Solutions at Hayfin, commented: “We are delighted to partner with 21 Invest France to help support the continued growth of PLG at an exciting time for the business, as it seeks to expand its global presence and offering. The Continuation Fund will provide PLG with substantial resources to execute organic growth initiatives and pursue strategic acquisitions.”

Severin de Mortemart, Director, Private Equity Solutions at Hayfin, added: “This transaction further adds to our teams strong track record of identifying and supporting established sponsors in local markets on the continued growth trajectory of marquee assets in Hayfin’s core sectors of focus.”

Within the European private equity secondaries market, single-asset GP-led transactions are anticipated to double, if not triple, in volume in the next three to five years. Hayfin’s Mirja Lehmler-Brown sits down with Private Equity International to discuss the attractive dynamics within the current market, as well as its expected evolution over the coming years.

Read the full commentary below.