Mayer Brown Discusses Private Equity’s Next Exit Cycle

The private equity exit market has improved, but it has not reverted to the conditions many sponsors once viewed as normal.

Several sponsor-backed issuers accessed the public markets during the first quarter of 2026, while large sponsor-to-sponsor transactions also returned for scaled, high-quality assets. While market sources and data points vary, they generally report a decline in U.S. private equity exit deal value, but an increase in U.S. private equity deal volume in the first quarter of2026 as compared to the first quarter of 2025. There isn’t enough data yet on Q2.

Strategic acquirers continue to pursue transactions that fit defined priorities. Capital is available, but disciplined. Public market demand has returned, but selectively.

That is shaping sponsor behavior in an important way. In prior cycles, liquidity planning was often concentrated near the end of the hold period. Today, many sophisticated firms are treating liquidity as an ongoing ownership function, developed well before a formal sale process begins. That distinction may define the next phase of the market.