Good morning, Hubsters. MK Flynn here in New York with the US edition of the Wire.
Uncertainty muddied the waters in the first half of the year. How are private equity professionals navigating the choppy seas, and do they think there will be clearer skies in the second half? Those are some of the questions PE Hub is asking a wide range of sources these days.
“We have not seen the floodgates open just yet,” Apollo’s David Sambur told me.“So far, we have seen the most pristine assets begin to trade. What comes next requires more price discipline, a focus on operational value creation and a back-to-basics mindset for the private equity industry.”
I’ll share more excerpts from Sambur’s H2 outlook, below. The story is part of PE Hub’s ongoing series of Q&A with PE thought leaders. Also in the series, earlier today, we published senior reporter Nina Lindholm’s interview with Ardian’s Thibault Basquin, who said, “It is an exciting time to invest in Europe.”
Taking another tack, Blackstone’s Jonathan Gray spoke with reporter Rafael Canton in an exclusive interview about the PE firm’s annual Give Back Challenge, which sharpens employees’ pitching skills and yields donations for nonprofits.
The contest “develops a skill set,” Gray said. “There is a personal development aspect of this, in addition to its being for a good cause.”
Let’s dive into those stories.
Modest pick-up
David Sambur, partner and co-head of equity at Apollo Global Management, weighs in with his outlook for dealmaking in H2, as PE Hub’s ongoing series of thought leader Q&As continues.
Subscribers to the premium version of the Wire will find excerpts from the interview, including what Sambur says PE pros should focus on to succeed during what comes next.
For more of PE Hub’s recent thought leader Q&As, see:
Giving back
“It’s daunting,” Jonathan Gray, president and COO of Blackstone, told PE Hub moments after announcing this year’s winners of the private equity firm’s seventh annual Blackstone Gives Back Challenge, an employee contest that results in philanthropic donations. “You’re presenting, and much of the firm leadership is sitting in the front row. You’ve got an audience in the room and on Zoom, and you’re making a five-minute pitch with rapid fire questions. It develops a skill set. There is a personal development aspect of this, in addition to it being for a good cause.”
Upgrade to the premium version of the Wire to learn more of Gray’s thoughts about this year’s contest, in which nearly 400 Blackstone employees across the globe nominated 75 non-profit organizations for a total of $1.275 million in grants.
And for more on the contest and its role at Blackstone, see PE Hub‘s story on last year’s challenge.
That’s it for today. Tomorrow, Craig McGlashan will bring you the Europe edition of the Wire, and Michael Schoeck will bring you the US edition.
All the best,
MK
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