We've repeatedly discussed venture capital's lack of liquidity, and how it threatens the entire industry.

• Now, private equity is beginning to have similar troubles.

That's the top takeaway from Bain & Co.'s annual global PE report, which was released today. It finds:

• Distributions as a portion of NAV fell to just 11%, the lowest rate in more than a decade.
• Dry powder decreased to $1.2 trillion from $1.3 trillion in 2024. Within that figure, there was an increase in the share of dry powder aged at least four years.
• Fundraising sank by 23%.

Private equity, like venture capital, is suffering from a reticence to take companies public, antitrust scrutiny, and a hangover from pandemic-era buying at inflated prices.

• Its one big advantage is that PE funds often sell portfolio companies to other PE funds, which isn't a luxury venture capital typically has.
• This is reflected a bit in Bain data showing increases in both new PE deal and exit activity last year, although sponsor-to-sponsor deals aren't usually the ones that drive outsized returns.
• Private equity also has hidden the ball a bit better than has venture capital, via its affinity for continuation vehicles.

The bottom line: Private equity isn't in a crisis, but it may be nearing a crossroads.

BYD, a listed Chinese electric automaker, is seeking to raise up to $5.2 billion in a new Hong Kong share sale.

Why it's the BFD: This highlights how the global EV market is racing forward, even as it faces speed bumps in the U.S.

• It also would be Hong Kong's largest share sale since Meituan raised $10 billion in April 2021.

The bottom line: "[BYD] fell short of surpassing Tesla as the biggest seller of pure EVs globally in 2024 by less than 25,000 units. However, BYD is set to leapfrog the Elon Musk-run company in annual revenue." — Dave Sebastian, Bloomberg

• Ramp, a New York-based financial operations platform, announced a $150m secondary share sale at a $13b valuation. Backers include Stripes, GIC, Avenir Growth, Thrive Capital, Khosla Ventures, General Catalyst, Lux Capital, 137 Ventures, and Definition Capital. ramp.com

• Viam, a New York-based hardware automation platform, raised $30m in Series C funding. USV led, and was joined by Battery Ventures and Neurone. axios.link/4km9GlI

• Cloudsmith, an Irish supply chain security startup, raised $23m in Series B funding led by TCV. axios.link/3F2rcvb

• Instant, an Australian ecommerce retention marketing platform, raised A$18m in Series A funding led by Hummingbird Ventures. axios.link/41FhSq7

• FairPlay, a provider of fairness testing software for lenders, raised $10m from Infinity Ventures, JPMorganChase, and Nyca Partners. axios.link/4h5cCQT

🚑 Faks, a French provider of pharmacy SaaS, raised €6m. Speedinvest led, and was joined by Connect Ventures, Seedcamp, and FJ Labs. axios.link/4h7f8q3

• VRAI, an Irish developer of defense training simulation tech, raised €5m in Series A funding led by Beringea. axios.link/41H9w1i

• HeyMilo, a New York-based candidate screening platform, raised $2.2m. Canaan Partners led, and was joined by Alumni Ventures and Entrepreneurs Roundtable Accelerator. heymilo.ai

• Apax Partners increased its equity stake in business management software provider ECI Software, becoming co-control owner with Leonard Green & Partners. axios.link/3FbPVNA

• Ares Management completed its acquisition of the international business of real estate investment firm GLP Capital Partners, except for GLP's China operations. aresmgmt.com

• Aquiline agreed to acquire the family office services business of SEI (Nasdaq: SEIC) for $120m. axios.link/4h0Ah56

• BlackRock completed its £2.55b acquisition of alt asset data provider Preqin. axios.link/4kgEepb

🚑 Blackstone agreed to buy a 60% stake in CMIC, a Japanese company that helps run pharma clinical trials. axios.link/4br8vgJ

🚑 Clearlake Capital agreed to acquire a majority stake in ModMed, a Boca Raton, Fla., provider of medical practice SaaS, from Warburg Pincus at a $5.3b valuation. axios.link/43glHDn

• Genstar Capital agreed to acquire a control stake in First Eagle Investment Management from Blackstone and Corsair Capital. firsteagle.com

⚡ GP Energy Capital Management acquired more than $900m of assets from Occidental Petroleum (NYSE: OXY), per Bloomberg. axios.link/3Xpzunr

• H.I.G. Capital acquired TimeToAct Group, a German provider of IT services, from Equistone. timetoact-group.com

• J.C. Flowers & Co. acquired Pepper Advantage, a London-based credit management firm. pepper-advantage.com

• PAI Partners agreed to acquire a majority stake in European economy chain Motel One Group at a reported €3.5b valuation. axios.link/3XpheKM

🚑 Peak Rock Capital acquired BrightStar Care, an Illinois-based provider of home care and supplemental staffing services. brightstarfranchising.com

Kestra Medical Technologies, a maker of wearable cardioverter defibrillators, is the only major IPO expected this week on U.S. exchanges. axios.link/3QIMhgS

• MNTN, an Austin, Texas-based provider of TV advertising software, filed for an IPO. It plans to list on the NYSE (MNTN) and reports a $33m net loss on $226m in revenue for 2024. The company raised over $200m from firms like BlackRock, Fidelity, Qualcomm Ventures, Mercato Partners, Baroda Ventures, Greycroft, Rincon Venture Partners, IAG Capital Partners, Trinity West Ventures, Saints Capital, Gray's Creek Capital Partners, 32 Ventures, BullVC, and Second Alpha Partners. axios.link/3EWAysk

• Adevinta, a portfolio company of Blackstone and Permira, agreed to sell its stake in Austrian digital marketplace Willhaben to Sprints and Styria Media Group. axios.link/3QFBT9s

🚑 BridgeBio Oncology Therapeutics. a South SF-based developer of small molecule drugs targeting RAS and PI3Kα malignancies, agreed to go public via a reverse merger with Helix Acquisition Corp. II (Nasdaq: HLXB), a SPAC formed by Cormorant Asset Management. BridgeBio has raised over $200m from backers like Cormorant, Omega Funds, GV, Enavate Sciences, EcoR1 Capital, Aisling Capital, Casdin Capital, Longwood Fund, Deerfield Management, Wellington Management, and Surveyor Capital. axios.link/41CFATD

• CK Infrastructure is weighing a bid for Virador, a U.K. waste management firm backed by KKR, per Bloomberg. axios.link/3EXWJP4

• Verdane sold part of its stake in Finnish beauty business Lumene Group to a group led by Creades. axios.link/41Gqk8B

• Welltower (NYSE: WELL) agreed to buy Canada's Amica Senior Lifestyles from Ontario Teachers' for C$4.6b. axios.link/3QLGSW8

• DoubleVerify (NYSE: DV) agreed to acquire Rockerbox, a marketing measurement company, per Axios Pro. axios.link/3F1x2Nv

⚡ Genesis Energy (NYSE: GEL) sold its soda ash manufacturing business to WE Soda for $14.3b. axios.link/3QDFi90

• Howard Hughes Holdings (NYSE: HHH) said that a takeover offer from Bill Ackman's Pershing Square is "not acceptable in its current form." axios.link/41AjZLH

🚑 Nuvation Bio (NYSE: NUVB) secured $150m in royalty interest financing and up to a $100m senior term loan from Sagard Healthcare Partners. nuvationbio.com

• ING Groep (NYSE: ING) agreed to acquire a €350m minority stake in Dutch private bank Van Lanschot Kempen (AMS: VLK). axios.link/4h4ZhIk

⚡ Shell (NYSE: SHEL) hired Morgan Stanley to explore a sale of its European and U.S. chemicals assets, per the WSJ. axios.link/4ioilCm

• Garnett Station Partners raised $1.2b for its fifth fund. garnettstation.com

• ICG raised over $11b for its fifth GP-led secondaries fund. axios.link/3QKMhNr

• Northleaf Capital Partners raised more than US$1b for its third private credit fund (including separately managed accounts). northleafcapital.com

• Rick Kimball (ex-Goldman Sachs) joined XMS Capital Partners as a managing director focused on health-care, per Bloomberg. axios.link/4bpnSqb

🚑 Roger Marrero joined Whistler Capital Partners as a partner, after 15 years with Comvest Partners. axios.link/4hXXupZ

• Matt Russ (ex-Menai Financial Group) joined CoinFund as director of biz dev and strategy, while Margaret Gabriel was promoted to chief people officer. coinfund.io

President Trump sparked a $300 billion crypto rally yesterday, due to his public embrace of a U.S. strategic reserve, Axios' Brady Dale writes.

• Trump almost instantly reversed a weeks-long global sell-off that had threatened to dent his image as the "crypto president."
• He did not say if his plan would be to purchase new cryptocurrencies, or just to sit on what it already has via seizures from criminal enterprises. Either way, it's a boon to current investors.

Elsewhere, "crypto czar" David Sacks announced that he sold all of his cryptocurrency prior to Trump taking office, although he still may have exposure via his venture capital firm, Craft Ventures.

• As we previously reported, Sacks is in the midst of an ethics review, after which there will be a public disclosure of his holdings.