Remarkable resilience

Private company trends

In this 7th bi-annual edition of the ICG Private Company Trends report, we provide an in-depth view of the key fundamental trends we are seeing across this historically opaque segment of the market and assess the outlook for 2022.

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Key findings include:

  • Private company revenues and EBITDA across Europe, the UK and the US experienced a material reacceleration in growth in 1H 2021 as economies reopened and pent up consumer demand was released.
  • The consumer discretionary sector in particular experienced a strong rebound in demand as households spent savings built up during the lockdowns.
  • Technology, healthcare and most business services continued to grow at a strong pace, following their resilient performance through the pandemic. 
  • Debt metrics across private companies in Europe and the US improved, with median leverage levels falling through 1H 2021 and interest coverage rising. 
  • Deal activity and inflows into private markets hit record highs. We anticipate these trends will continue in 2022.
  • A continued positive operating environment for most sectors expected in 2022, with technology, healthcare and business services likely to continue to outperform. Supply chain security and pricing power will likely remain key bottom up performance differentiators.

Strong rebound in private companies’ EBITDA

Source: ICG Private Company Database, median 4QMA data to Q2 2021