HarbourVest sees $85bn in deal flow

HarbourVest Partners saw $58 billion-worth of secondaries deal flow last year, according to documents from the Ventura County Employees’ Retirement Association.

HarbourVest declined to comment.

Traditional secondaries, including sales of single limited partner interests and portfolios of LP interests, accounted for most of the deal flow. HarbourVest saw 390 sellers generate $57.9 billion-worth of deals.

Direct secondaries followed, including replacement general partner situations and team spin-outs. About 68 sellers put $22.1 billion of direct portfolios up for sale last year.

Structured deals – joint ventures, take-privates and other special situations – accounted for $4.8 billion of deal flow. Only 20 sellers were active in this part of the market last year.

HarbourVest also estimated 67 percent of the assets for sale originated in the US, up from 59 percent in 2013. Meanwhile, European assets accounted for 18 percent of total assets for sale, down from 26 percent the previous year. Assets from Asia and the rest of the world remained constant year-over-year, accounting for 15 percent of total deal flow.