Secondaries

While Ardian wants to make sure it gets the best pricing in its deals, the most indicative link back to the returns it generates is ‘not necessarily what we pay, but what we buy’, senior managing director Wills Small said in a video interview.

Secondaries were seen as offering the best investment opportunities for about 28% of LPs this year, up from 24% in 2023, according to a survey from Adams Street Partners.

Secondaries professionals gathered in Orlando, Florida, for an annual invite-only dinner and celebration during NEXUS 2025.

The strategy is nearly double the size of its predecessor, which closed in 2021.

Infrastructure secondaries volume is expected to double in the next five years after seeing at least $15bn last year.

There have been few documented cases of continuation vehicle exits given the nascent nature of such transactions. The deal has become the latest example.

Rising acceptance of continuation funds could drive further growth in the GP-led space, industry participants said at PEI Group’s NEXUS 2025 event in Orlando last week.

Alaska Permanent Fund’s deputy CIO for private markets, Allen Waldrop, explains why the SWF has been a buyer in the CV market and has not been a seller even when it has been overallocated to PE.

The firm’s predecessor vehicle closed on $2.9bn in June 2021, Secondaries Investor data shows.

The education and experience of new sellers will help grow the LP side of the industry, according to Vlad Colas, executive vice president of Ardian, who spoke with Buyouts at PEI Group’s NEXUS 2025 event in Orlando in early March.