Debevoise & Plimpton LLP announced the release of its Spring 2025 Private Equity Report, analyzing several market-shaping trends as the industry contends with changes at the intersection of trade policy and national security, accelerating AI developments, new Delaware law, and expanded use of continuation vehicles and secondaries.
The report provides analysis of key developments including recent SEC actions signaling a positive shift for expanding retail access to private market strategies through updated regulatory positions applicable to business development companies and closed-end funds. These changes give sponsors greater flexibility to offer retail investors broader access to private market investment strategies while preserving key investor protections.
The report examines challenges facing private credit in current market conditions, noting that while the asset class enjoyed robust growth in a near-zero interest rate environment, current conditions may bring increased restructuring and introduce “lender-on-lender violence” to this relationship-driven sector.
Additional topics covered include key executive compensation issues for PE sponsors in take-private transactions, trends in the secondaries market including continuation vehicles and financing structures, and implications of the Trump administration’s America First investment policy for private equity firms navigating national security considerations in inbound and outbound investments.
The report also addresses practical considerations including eight principles for effective M&A legal due diligence, guidance on generative AI adoption for private equity firms and portfolio companies, and analysis of Delaware’s reformed transaction law under S.B. 21, which brings changes to regulations governing conflicted transactions while maintaining avenues for plaintiff challenges.
