Blackstone’s Jonathan Gray : 'Transaction activity wi ll pick back up'; plus, L Catterton-backed IPO soared

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Blackstone’s Jonathan Gray: 'Transaction activity will pick back up'; plus, L Catterton-backed IPO soared

Good morning, Hubsters. MK Flynn here with the Wire.

Things are looking rosy this morning!

Yesterday delivered a successful IPO for a beauty company backed by L Catterton, and today began with Blackstone announcing it has surpassed $1 trillion in AUM for the first time, as the world’s largest PE firm released its second quarter earnings.

We’ve also got a Q&A with Apex Group’s Maxwell Johnston, who expressed “cautious optimism in M&A markets for the second half of 2023.”

One potential cloud on the sunny forecast: yesterday the DOJ and FTC released a draft of new guidelines that may dampen some private equity deals.

But let’s start with the good news.

Dazzling debut

Despite the supposedly closed IPO market, L Catterton-backed beauty tech company Oddity made a surprisingly successful public debut yesterday.

PE Hub obtained a letter L Catterton sent to investors with details on the deal, including returns. Upgrade to the premium version of the Wire to read all about it.

Pickup

Not only has Blackstone become the first PE firm to hit the $1 trillion mark, but the firm’s president gave an interview with the Financial Times in which he said the deal drought may soon end.

Future path

“Among the factors bolstering cautious optimism in M&A markets for the second half of 2023 is that we have seen an acceptance of the new valuations in this macro environment and a future path to normalizing monetary policy that is encouraging the opening of credit markets, even if only for short periods,” Maxwell Johnston, head of M&A at Apex Group, told PE Hub’s Obey Martin Manayiti.

Subscribers may read Obey’s interview.

Cumulative effect

On a less positive note for the private equity industry, yesterday the FTC and DOJ released a draft update of new merger guidelines.

To find out what’s alarming for PE in the proposed guidelines, upgrade to the premium version of the Wire.

The public comment period will last 60 days.

In the meantime, I’d love to hear your thoughts. What, if any, impact on your PE portfolio might the proposed guidelines have? Please email me at mk.flynn@peimedia.com

That’s all for today.

Tomorrow, Obey will bring you Friday’s Wire, and I’ll see you on Monday.

Happy dealmaking,

MK

Read the full wire commentary on PE Hub ...

Also of note (may require subscriptions)

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Hopeful energy transition investors face the dual challenge of development pipelines becoming operational and profitable amid valuation and supply-chain challenges. (Infrastructure Investor)
There are very real consequences to the attacks on ESG in the US; quietly sitting out the discussion is not an acceptable option, writes specialist communications consultant Dmitriy Ioselevich in a guest column for New Private Markets.
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Is sports lending about to kick off? A growing market for alternative lending is developing among sports leagues with multi-billion dollar financings attracting the eyes of credit managers. (Private Debt Investor)
Mid-market private companies continued to show year-on-year growth in earnings and revenues in the first and second months of Q2, albeit at a slower pace than in the first quarter, according to the Golub Capital Altman index. (Private Debt Investor)
Accounting firm EY has named Timothy Tracy as its new Americas Private Equity leader. (Private Funds CFO)
100-plus VC funds led by women: Research by Venture Capital Journal found a total of 102 women-led firms have raised a combined $5bn since the start of 2022.