Executive Summary
The Private Equity Harvest Report 2026 highlights a market moving from stalled exits toward a gradual recovery, while managing a significant backlog of aging assets. Holding periods now exceed five years on average, creating pressure on sponsors to generate liquidity after several years of constrained distributions.
As exit markets reopen, activity remains selective and highly dependent on asset quality. Valuation gaps persist, especially for assets acquired at peak pricing, pushing firms to focus on operational improvements such as margin expansion, revenue growth, and digital transformation to drive returns.
Key trends
- A historic backlog of aging assets is driving a large and growing pipeline of exit opportunities across sectors and size bands.
- Value creation is shifting toward operational improvement as valuation driven returns become harder to achieve.
- Exit activity is recovering selectively with secondary transactions and structured solutions leading the way.
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