What lies ahead for dealmakers in 2023? AE Industrial weighs in, as we launch a new Q&A series

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What lies ahead for dealmakers in 2023? AE Industrial weighs in, as we launch a new Q&A series

Good morning, dealmakers! It’s Aaron here with Thursday’s Wire.

We’ll get things started today by featuring a fresh Q&A series featuring high-profile private equity pros.

And then we’ll head to Europe to check in with EQT on a recent investment.

Looking ahead. Today, PE Hub is launching a new Q&A series, featuring private equity leaders reflecting on highlights from 2022 and sharing their outlooks for 2023.

The inaugural piece of the series sizes up the aerospace and defense sector, with AE Industrial Partners foreseeing continuedfavorable M&A conditions in the A&D sector.

PE Hub reporter Obey Martin Manayiti caught up with Kirk Konert, a partner at AEI, a Boca Raton-based PE firm that specializes in aerospace, defense and government services, space, power and utility services, and specialty industrial markets.

Here’s an excerpt from the interview:

What are you looking forward to most in 2023?

I can’t wait to back new founders and companies in our sectors in 2023. The competition for assets has decreased, which will allow us to find great companies to invest behind at better prices.

I am also optimistic that, after some economic pain, the economy will come out of 2023 in relatively good shape and markets will normalize.

What will be the most important trends affecting your dealmaking in 2023?

Given that a lot of what I focus on is driven by government and defense budgets, we will watch the new Congress dynamic closely. If there are no surprises in budgets and political rhetoric, we would expect favorable M&A conditions for the government and defense sectors.

You can read the whole story here.

Over the coming weeks, PE Hub and PE Hub Europe will be producing many installments of the series.

I’ll be working on healthcare sector outlook pieces, so if you are a healthcare investor and want to share some thoughts with me on what you expect in 2023, email me at aaron.w@peimedia.com.

Asia ascension. As you may remember, EQT completed its mammoth merger with Baring Private Equity Asia to create BPEA EQT earlier in October.

EQT is leveraging its new partnership to grow the geographical footprint of Trescal, a provider of regulated calibration services for testing and measurement equipment.

PE Hub Europe editor Craig McGlashan spoke with Thomas Rajzbaum, managing director and head of EQT’s French infrastructure advisory team about his firm entering exclusive negotiations to take a near 75 percent stake in Trescal.

Toronto-headquartered OMERS bought its majority stake in Trescal from Paris-based private equity firm Ardian in 2018, valuing the company at around €670 million. Trescal has since doubled in size, moved into sectors such as life sciences and entered seven markets, including South Korea and Australia. It has also completed 47 acquisitions.

To find out more about EQT’s perspective on what it takes to succeed in Asia and more, read the whole story here.

Free content. Are you signed up for PE Hub Europe? We recently launched the new website, which provides in-depth coverage and exclusive insight on European private equity deals.

Look to PE Hub Europe for:

• The latest deal terms and pricing to bolster your negotiations

• Deal trend analysis to know if a sector is hot or overheated

• Relevant and accurate intelligence on fund manager activity

• Rare insight about fresh investment opportunities & pending deals

We are currently offering complimentary access to PE Hub Europe. Sign in or register to start reading today!

That is a wrap for today, I will be back for the Fri-yay edition tomorrow, when I’ll focus on healthcare deal coverage. Also up tomorrow: a new listicle by Iris Dorbian about PE deals in physical fitness. Get ready for those New Year’s resolutions!

Until tomorrow, happy dealmaking!

Cheers,

Aaron

Read thefull wire commentaryon PE Hub …

Also of note (may require subscriptions)

TA Associates, bucking the trend of slowing fundraising, is gearing up to raise its next flagship fund just over a year after closing its last pool on a record amount. But like other firms fundraising in quick time, like Hellman & Friedman and Thoma Bravo, TA could face resistance from “fatigued” LPs. (Buyouts)

Northleaf Capital Partners has set up shop in Tokyo, its ninth location globally and second in Asia after the 2018 opening of a Melbourne office. The goal, managing director and APAC head Jeff Pentland told Buyouts, is to create “a more immediate and local connection” with new and existing LPs in the region.

Alaska Permanent Fund CIO Marcus Frampton has soured on private equity as the system considers reducing its allocation to the asset class next year. “I’m as bearish on private equity as I ever have been in my career. We just haven’t seen the correction in private equity like we have in public markets,” Frampton said. (Buyouts)

Some 39% of all open-end fundraising took place in the last 18 months, with a record 20 funds launched by this half-year alone. Infrastructure Investor maps out the market using data from bfinance.

Large single-asset deals in the real estate and infrastructure sectors have been driven by specific dynamics, according to panellists at PEI Group's Women in Private Markets Summit. (Secondaries Investor)

UK risks being left behind without more agile alternative protein regulation. Retained EU regulation means Impossible Food's flagship burger still can’t be served in the UK while cultivated meat is regulated by rules that were created before the technology existed. (Agri Investor)

"Blackstone chief executive Stephen Schwarzman on Wednesday disputed the idea that" restrictions limiting withdrawls on its Blackstone Real Estate Income Trust "reflected problems at the fund, which has $125bn of assets mostly invested in warehouses and apartments in the US when accounting for leverage." (Financial Times)

"Hipgnosis Songs Fund, the music-catalog firm that has faced investor criticism, moved to soothe shareholders Thursday, saying new advisers had endorsed the valuation of its songs and pointing to sector dealmaking at robust prices." (Wall Street Journal)

"Private-equity firms [like KKR, Apollo, Hamilton Lane and Partners Group] are making their funds available on the blockchain in an effort to reach rich investors, despite the crypto scandals that have left the technology under a cloud." (WSJ Pro)

"Christophe de Dardel was named CEO of Unigestion, replacing Fiona Frick after 12 years in the role. Mr. de Dardel has been head of private equity at Unigestion for 22 years. He will remain closely involved in the firm's $11 billion private equity unit and will continue in his role on the private equity investment committee." (Pensions & Investments)