03
2022 market activity analysis
Transaction breakdowns
Transaction type by volume
Transaction type by number¹
- May double count transactions where one or more respondent took part
- Transaction volume reached $106 billion in 2022, a more than 20% decrease from 2021, following broader negative trends in capital markets and M&A activity.
- Often used as a way to bridge the gap between bid and ask spreads, preferred equity transactions increased by 3 percentage points in terms of market share. LP-led deals outpaced GP-led transactions to increase market share by 2 percentage points. The volume of GP-led deals fell by 4 percentage points as a percentage of the total market as compared to last year, with less capital available from investors for concentrated investment exposure.
- While the number of GP-led transactions launched in 2022 increased, the number of transactions completed decreased to 43% of the total number of secondary transactions from 49% in 2021.
- LPs seeking to reduce allocation pressure contributed to a significant increase in the number of LP-led transaction closed in 2022 growing to 47% of total deal flow from 38% in 2021.
- We would expect to see a greater number of preferred equity transactions in any market dislocation and 2022 proved to support this thesis with the number of preferred equity deals increasing to 7% of the market by number, from 3% in 2021.
Composition of market transaction volume¹
By amount transacted ($)
By number of deals
- Dry powder at beginning of Q1 2022 and Q1 2023, and based on secondary survey data and Campbell Lutyens market knowledge
- Smaller buyers picked up market share in 2022 with groups with $500 million – $1 billion of dry powder gaining six percentage points of total transaction volume over last year in terms of value and nearly ten percentage points in terms of number of deals.
- The numbers illustrate that “mosaic” transactions sold to more than one buyer became a common occurrence in 2022, providing an opportunity for smaller-sized secondary funds to deploy capital.
- The average transaction size reached $82 million in 2022, up from $74 million in 2021 and the number of transactions completed by secondary buyers on average increased to 27 from 23, demonstrating an increase in the breadth and depth of the market.
Transaction breakdowns
Transaction type by volume
Transaction type by number¹
- May double count transactions where one or more respondent took part
- Transaction volume reached $106 billion in 2022, a more than 20% decrease from 2021, following broader negative trends in capital markets and M&A activity.
- Often used as a way to bridge the gap between bid and ask spreads, preferred equity transactions increased by 3 percentage points in terms of market share. LP-led deals outpaced GP-led transactions to increase market share by 2 percentage points. The volume of GP-led deals fell by 4 percentage points as a percentage of the total market as compared to last year, with less capital available from investors for concentrated investment exposure.
- While the number of GP-led transactions launched in 2022 increased, the number of transactions completed decreased to 43% of the total number of secondary transactions from 49% in 2021.
- LPs seeking to reduce allocation pressure contributed to a significant increase in the number of LP-led transaction closed in 2022 growing to 47% of total deal flow from 38% in 2021.
- We would expect to see a greater number of preferred equity transactions in any market dislocation and 2022 proved to support this thesis with the number of preferred equity deals increasing to 7% of the market by number, from 3% in 2021.
Composition of market transaction volume¹
By amount transacted ($)
By number of deals
- Dry powder at beginning of Q1 2022 and Q1 2023, and based on secondary survey data and Campbell Lutyens market knowledge
- Smaller buyers picked up market share in 2022 with groups with $500 million – $1 billion of dry powder gaining six percentage points of total transaction volume over last year in terms of value and nearly ten percentage points in terms of number of deals.
- The numbers illustrate that “mosaic” transactions sold to more than one buyer became a common occurrence in 2022, providing an opportunity for smaller-sized secondary funds to deploy capital.
- The average transaction size reached $82 million in 2022, up from $74 million in 2021 and the number of transactions completed by secondary buyers on average increased to 27 from 23, demonstrating an increase in the breadth and depth of the market.
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