Louis Lehot and Brian Wheeler Publish Analysis of Private Equity Liquidity Trends

Foley & Lardner LLP partners Louis Lehot and Brian Wheeler authored the article, “Private equity’s new liquidity playbook: creativity now rivals capital,” published in the December 2025 issue of Financier Worldwide Magazine.

Lehot and Wheeler analyze how private equity firms have redefined liquidity solutions in 2025, responding to closed IPO windows and slow M&A activity with new approaches driven by secondary transactions and distributions to paid-in capital (DPI) structures.

The authors highlight key trends, including:

• The rapid rise of general partner led solutions now make up almost half of all secondary volume, allowing sponsors to retain high-performing assets while offering investor liquidity.
• Top-quartile DPI is accelerating fundraising, with managers utilizing secondaries to bolster metrics and attract new commitments amid limited partner liquidity constraints.
• Institutional investors such as pension plans and sovereign wealth funds are actively using secondary sales and portfolio optimization to manage liquidity and exposure.
• Mega buyouts lead the market, but infrastructure, renewables, and Asia-Pacific are surging. Sponsors are mixing secondaries with innovative structures — like hybrid financing and continuation funds — for tailored liquidity.
• Dedicated secondary capital has grown dramatically, tightening pricing across many segments of the market.

“As we move into 2026, a return to the old model of relying solely on IPOs is unlikely,” the authors conclude. “The secondary market has become a strategic pillar of PE portfolio management. Secondaries are redefining how liquidity is created and how value is sustained in private markets.”