​Download the Second Quarter 2020 Private Equity Update here.

As the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic dragged into the second quarter, there was a noticeable effect on private equity deal-making. The volume of buyouts and exits (instances in which a private equity investor exits their investment) fell sharply with a 44% decline quarter over quarter, and fundraising was also off from 2019 highs.

​In the second quarter, US venture capital investment was surprisingly consistent from previous quarters and actually topped the average over the last twelve quarters. This quarter we continued seeing the trend of fewer but larger deals, with volume in the second quarter falling 23% from the first to approximately 2,200 deals. However, overall value consideration during the quarter was $34.3 billion, a decline of only 4.5% from the first quarter but just a 1.3% from the quarter a year ago. This fewer-but-larger deal trend has progressed over the last five quarters now and signals that investors are more cautious with their funds but are simultaneous more willing to deploy capital into what they perceive to be high-quality companies with strong growth prospects.

​M&A activity continued to pick up in July, according to preliminary data from Pitchbook. In the US, there was more than $50 billion in M&A spending, the second month of increases from May’s low. While deal counts are currently showing a sequential decline from June, we suspect there will be an increase as deals are reported (there tends to be a lag in deal reporting). We continue to monitor M&A volume, which is supported by the reopening of economies across the nation but is under pressure from rising COVID-19 cases.

Download our Second Quarter 2020 Mergers & Acquisitions Update

As economic shutdowns persisted into the second quarter, it is unsurprising that mergers and acquisitions (M&A) activity further stalled in the quarter. Deal volume in the US declined approximately 42% while spending on M&A deals fell 25% from the first quarter. The quarter demonstrated that there was extraordinary uncertainty in the market. Midwest M&A activity trended similarly to US activity, with the number of deals completed falling slightly more than 50% from the first quarter.

Download our Second Quarter 2020 Economic & Public Market Update
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The second quarter was a challenging quarter on the economic front. The nationwide, COVID-related shutdown from the first quarter segued into the second quarter, and the Government issued an unprecedented fiscal stimulus package in order to keep the economy afloat. American job losses continued to reach numbers never seen prior to 2020, and the flow of money slowed (while personal savings increased to a record). As the quarter proceeded, state and local economies began to reopen, and consumers and businesses alike began to show some signs of life: jobs in hard-hit segments, such as hospitality, showed significant growth; manufacturer surveys optimistically showed expectations of growth; and both existing home sales and housing starts trended positively.