PEI Awards 2022: Goldman, Blackstone, Kirkland among winners

The North American secondaries categories in affiliate title Private Equity International's latest awards were hotly contested again this year.

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PEI Awards 2022 logo

North America still accounts for the lion’s share of global secondaries volume, with the region speaking for almost two-thirds of total secondaries deal volume last year, according to data from Greenhill.

The region played host to some eye-catching deals, including one of the largest LP portfolios to ever trade hands: the California Public Employees’ Retirement System‘s $6 billion sale to buyers including Lexington Partners and Glendower Capital.

Below are the winners across the four secondaries categories in the region for affiliate title Private Equity International‘s PEI Awards 2022. We congratulate the winners!

Secondaries Deal of the Year in the Americas

  1. Goldman Sachs Vintage Funds, Partners Group, KKR and Lazard for KKR’s GP-led process
  2. Churchill Asset Management for its collateralised fund obligation
  3. Lexington Partners, Glendower Capital and Jefferies for CalPERS’ LP-led

In this eye-catching deal, Goldman Sachs and Partners Group co-led a single-asset continuation fund process for consumer website operator Internet Brands, a KKR portfolio company. Affiliate title Buyouts reported that the deal was worth as much as $2.5 billion and that Internet Brands was valued at more than $12 billion in a separate minority stake sale. Lazard advised on the transaction.

Secondaries Firm of the Year in the Americas

  1. Blackstone Strategic Partners
  2. Whitehorse Liquidity Partners
  3. Goldman Sachs Vintage Funds

Blackstone Strategic Partners made a splash in 2022 when it came to secondaries fundraising. Strategic Partners Fund IX, which has since closed on $22.2 billion, marking the largest secondaries programme ever raised, had raised more than $18 billion as of October 2022.

Alongside that raise, the firm was also out raising its debut GP-led strategy, Strategic Partners GP Solutions, which also closed on $2.7 billion in January, ahead of a $1.5 billion target. It is still in market raising Strategic Partners Real Estate VIII, which has collected $1 billion so far, according to Secondaries Investor data.

Secondaries Law Firm of the Year in the Americas

  1. Kirkland & Ellis
  2. Ropes & Gray
  3. Simpson Thacher & Bartlett

No other law firm has ever won in this category. Kirkland & Ellis advised on $97.4 billion-worth of transactions in North America, including 64 GP or sponsor investments by secondaries investors for a total of $41.6 billion, 58 GP-led restructurings for a total of $40 billion, and 11 LP portfolio sales for a total of $6 billion. The firm’s North American client roster included the likes of Bain Capital, Warburg Pincus and Whitehorse Liquidity Partners last year.

Secondaries Adviser of the Year in the Americas

  1. Evercore
  2. PJT Park Hill
  3. Jefferies

Evercore has won in this category in every year since the award’s existence, bar one. It’s easy to see why: the bank’s private capital advisory group closed on more than $30 billion of transaction volume in the Americas last year. Highlights for the firm include acting on one GP-led $3 billion-plus continuation fund and another seven GP-led $1 billion-plus continuation fund transactions, as well as acting on the multi-asset continuation fund deal for Accell-KKR, which was supported by five co-lead investors in a deal worth around $1.8 billion.

Here are the EMEA and Asia-Pacific winners, and here is the full list of winners across the all categories on Private Equity International.