...I had no idea how tough it really was. An investment bank that we work with shared some internal data which showed that over 85% of deals that got done in Q1 were at either flat or down valuations. That's off of approximately 50% the prior quarter. Averages are 30%-40%. And of course, the "protective" provisions got even tougher for issuers (multiple liquidation preferences, etc.)
When I asked the banker to rate the health of the financing market right now on a scale of 1-10, he said 2.0 - 2.5, up from 0 to 1 in Q1. I rate it higher, based on the activity levels our portfolio companies are seeing, but based on the numbers there's no doubt that Q1 should be considered the bottom for raising capital.
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