Morning Hubs! • How the fall of SVB spurred ICD’s growth before sale to Tradeweb • Audax interviews advisers to shop Liquid Environmental Solutions Comments from Fed chair Jerome Powell yesterday will not provide much comfort to the private equity industry, which has sustained a muted dealmaking environment in this era of more expensive debt. While M&A has seemed to be opening up more this year, what is really under scrutiny is PE firms’ ability to exit older investments. “The pushback of rate cuts, as seen by the public market reaction, is not a positive for valuations. The combination of valuation pressure and expensive capital is leading to longer hold times for financial sponsors,” Jeremy Swan, managing principal of CohnReznick’s financial sponsors & financial services industry practice, told me. “This combination of factors has put significant downward pressure on exit activity which will lead to continued slow distributions,” he said. “Sponsors that are investing out of funds that were raised 3+ years ago who have not seen the quantity or quality of exits that they expected, will bear the brunt of the fundraising pain. While exits will continue to happen, the slow pace, and potentially pressured valuations, will lead to a continuation of the challenging fundraising market.” Speaking of exits Parthenon Capital recently announced the sale of its portfolio company Institutional Cash Distributors, which provides institutional investment software. The company saw an increase in interest amid the regional banking crisis last year, writes Obey Martin Manayiti on PE Hub. Read more in the premium version of the Wire. Bake off Audax Private Equity is exploring the sale of Liquid Environmental Solutions, which provides non-hazardous liquid waste management and disposal services, writes Michael Schoeck on PE Hub. Learn more at the subscriber version of the Wire. That’s it for me! Have a great rest of your Wednesday. Hit me up with your good tips n’ gossip, feedback or Scotch recommendations at christopher.w@pei.group or find me on LinkedIn. Read the full wire commentary on PE Hub ... | 