EQT expects a wave of private capital consolidation and is ready to jump in as a buyer.
Chief Executive Christian Sinding says the firm is building an inorganic strategy focused on a handful of verticals, including secondaries, growth equity, and healthcare sector specialists. The reasoning, says Sinding, is a mix of known gaps in the current platform—secondaries in particular—and areas of white space where the firm thinks it can accelerate its internal efforts.
Join the more than 60,000 industry professionals who rely on our newsletter
EQT says it’s actively evaluating potential purchases. Looking opportunistically at inbound deal flow, Sinding says targets that fall within the firm’s thematic priorities are being considered based on “track record, strategic fit, and cultural fit.”
Within healthcare, the firm has been working to build out its offerings across stages and geographies to take advantage of global demand growth from aging populations. Recent launches include new healthcare growth and venture strategies to complement existing later-stage teams.
But it’s early days for those projects. “There are still geographies and capabilities that we don’t have, both in growth investments and in private equity,” said Sinding in a recent Financial Times interview. “If we woke up one day and found a great healthcare growth business in the United States, that could be something for us.”
The secondaries story is similar. Sinding sees a chance to service growing institutional portfolio liquidity needs, but internal offerings are immature.
“We’re seeing demand for everything from private IPOs to continuation vehicles,” he told investors on this quarter’s earnings call, noting the firm plans to focus on GP-led deals rather than LP secondaries outside its core expertise.
More assets will be coming to market (as many as 1 in 6 firms by 2027, according to PwC’s latest market update) as competition drives a new inflection point for the industry.
“If you go [to fundraise] and don’t have a succession plan, or you don’t have an edge, or haven’t scaled your capabilities, people aren’t going to give you capital,” Sinding told the FT.