Greenhill Cogent advised on 21 deals in Q3

Market dislocations and volatility after the Brexit vote led to quarterly revenue from the firm's capital advisory business being 'quite soft'.

Greenhill Cogent, the secondaries advisory unit of Greenhill, advised on 21 deals involving the sale of limited partnership interests that closed in the third quarter of the year, the firm said on Monday.

The firm’s total revenue decreased 15.3 percent to $76.6 million for the three months to 30 September, compared with $90.5 million in the previous quarter, according to its third quarter earnings statement. The firm cited market dislocation and volatility after the Brexit vote as reasons for the drop.

“On the capital advisory side, if you have a market dislocation with a lot of volatility, often things can move just one quarter to the next while people wait to determine what price they would pay relative to the net asset value of an existing fund or whether they want to invest in a new fund that is being formed,” Scott Bok, Greenhill’s chief executive, said in an earnings call.

While year-to-date revenue in capital advisory improved compared with 2015, the third quarter was “quite soft” as fundraising activity appeared to decrease as a result of market volatility after the UK’s decision to leave the EU, Bok said.

A strong rebound in capital advisory means the firm’s fourth quarter is likely to be the strongest of the year, he added.

Year-on-year revenue rose 51 percent, up from $50.6 million for the third quarter of 2015.

Greenhill Cogent advised on 51 secondaries deals last year, about 90 percent of which were traditional limited partnership fund stakes and 10 percent were GP-led transactions by dollar value, as Secondaries Investor previously reported.