Emerging Trends in the Evolving Continuation Fund Market

The private fund secondaries market has grown rapidly in recent years, with Jefferies reporting that aggregate market volume increased from $37 billion in 2016 to $132 billion in 2021. Much of that growth was driven by an explosion in GP‑led continuation fund activity, which is when a sponsor establishes a new fund vehicle that is principally capitalized by secondaries investors and transfers one or more assets (or a portion of those assets) to that new vehicle. GP‑led transaction volume increased from $26 billion in 2019 to $68 billion in 2021, according to Evercore. In a guest article, Kirkland & Ellis partners Jacqueline Eaves, Társis Gonçalves and James King identify several trends that are emerging amidst the growth of the continuation funds space. Specifically, the article details the rapid growth of single-asset deals; the entrance of new participants into the market; the increased acquisition of independent secondaries firms by larger multi-asset sponsors; the efforts of several financial advisory firms to build out their secondaries capabilities; and the progression in the nature of deals, including new transaction structures and evolving deal dynamics. See “How Good Governance Frameworks Can Optimize Outcomes in Continuation Funds” (Mar. 15, 2022); and “Latest on Key Terms, Structuring Approaches and Trends in Secondary Transactions and Co‑Investments (Part One of Two)” (Jan. 11, 2022).

To read the full article

Continue reading your article with a PELR subscription.