Download the December 2020 issue of Unquote

Unquote team
15 December 2020

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This month in Unquote: With an end to the pandemic in sight, Unquote recaps a year like no other, and maps out what market players expect from 2021.

"Over the summer, LPs saw valuations start to recover. And, just as importantly, we saw a return to some travel and a return to dealmaking. If you had asked back in March if it was likely to happen that quickly, people would have thought you were mad." These thoughts from Richard Hope, head EMEA at Hamilton Lane, neatly sum up how many in the industry will look back on 2020: a year in which private equity was faced with its greatest challenge since the global financial crisis, but in which it also showcased its ability to take on such headwinds and bounce back.

Echoing the views of a number of professionals with whom Unquote has spoken since March, Hope points out that LPs have been generally impressed with the level of transparency from GPs, compared with 2008 – and not just at the top level from the IR teams, but from the investment teams as well.

Of course, that protection and transparency effort was made possible because of (and no doubt contributed to) severely reduced investment activity from late March onward. Simply put, Unquote had not recorded such a drastic quarter-on-quarter slowdown in deal-doing since the summer of 2008.

But with activity returning to near-normal levels in recent weeks, despite a second wave of lockdowns across Europe, Unquote delves into what market players are anticipating as 2021 rolls on.

Also in this issue:

Regional 2021 previews for the UK, DACH, Scandinavia and southern Europe
Covid-19, oversubscribed funds fuel early secondaries
GP Profile: Consilium Private Equity
Our usual in-depth coverage and statistical analysis of activity in each regional market

To download the latest issue of Unquote in PDF format, please click here