Coronavirus takes greater toll on VC than buyout deals – Preqin

Venture capital managers closed 2,851 deals worth a total of $50 billion in the first quarter, down 23% by deal count and 12% by deal value from a year ago quarter, according to data released by Preqin.

The data suggest that disruptions caused by coronavirus outbreak in the first quarter "had more of an impact in the venture capital market rather than the buyout market," though buyout transactions were also down by both deal numbers and transaction values.

A total of 1,211 buyout deals with an aggregate $94 billion closed in the quarter ended March 31, 12% fewer deals and 20% less value than first quarter in 2019, Preqin data released Wednesday shows.

Fundraising for private equity and venture capital fundraising was down year over year. Some 267 funds closed with a combined $133 billion, down 27% by number of deals and 12% by total deal value.

As of Wednesday, there were 3,620 private equity and venture capital funds in the market seeking to raise a total of $933 billion, compared to 3,749 funds looking to raise $972 billion in January 2019.

Investors expect to commit smaller amounts of capital to private equity funds in the next 12 months, with 56% planning to commit $50 million or less, up from 47% who had the same plans in the first quarter of 2019.And 19% of investors expect to commit $100 million to $299 million, the same as in the first quarter of 2019; 10% expect $600 million or more, up 1 percentage point; 9% plan to commit $50 million to $99 million, down 6 percentage points; and 6% see committing $300 million to $599 million.