The machine that powers private markets—the steady rhythm of companies being bought, built, and sold—is jammed.
Hold periods for buyout-backed companies have stretched to nearly seven years, up from five-and-a-half a decade ago. Distributions to investors, the lifeblood of the entire ecosystem, have fallen far below the historical norm of 15% to 20%. The average venture-backed company now takes 14 years to go public. And retail investors who piled into private credit vehicles—at a 60% annualized rate for five consecutive years—recently found themselves unable to withdraw their money when they wanted to.
