Q2 2022 Lincoln Private Market Index

Private Company Enterprise Values Increased Again to New Record Highs in Q2 2022

Lincoln International’s 20th edition of the Lincoln Private Market Index (Lincoln PMI) reveals that in Q2 2022, private market enterprise values decreased 0.4%. This quarter, strong fundamental performance was unable to offset the fifth straight quarter of multiple contraction, resulting in the first quarterly decline in the index since Q1 2020. Whereas the Lincoln PMI decreased 0.4%, the S&P 500 EV declined by 14.7% during Q2, reflecting the S&P 500’s significantly more volatile enterprise value multiples. While most industries in the Lincoln PMI were relatively stable in the current quarter, the volatility of public healthcare and technology companies began to impact the valuations of the private healthcare and technology companies as the two industries experienced the largest declines in Q2 2022.

About the Lincoln Private Market Index

The Lincoln PMI is a first-of-its-kind index measuring changes in the enterprise values (EVs) of private companies over time – and a barometer of the performance of private companies generally. The Lincoln PMI enables private equity firms and other investors to benchmark how private company investments are performing against peers, and how this performance correlates to the S&P 500.

Lincoln designed the Lincoln PMI to solve this problem by measuring the quarterly change in enterprise values for private companies primarily owned by private equity firms. Enterprise value is the sum of a company’s equity value and debt.

  • Quarterly Overview

    • 20th Edition: Covers Q2 2022
    • Measures quarterly changes in the enterprise values of approximately 700 private companies, based on a population of approximately 3,800 companies primarily owned by private equity firms with a median EBITDA of approximately $30-35 million
    • Analyzes the impact from the change in company earnings versus market valuation multiples
    • Assess the change in value for six industry sectors
  • Click here to download a printable version of this report.

Results

Private Markets Remain Insulated Amidst Public Market Volatility

(NOTE: Both the Lincoln PMI and S&P 500 EV returns above reflect enterprise values)
(S&P 500 EV excludes financial companies for which enterprise value is generally not meaningful; however, including such companies produces similar results)

Q2 ’22 YTD LTM
Lincoln PMI (0.4%) 1.3% 12.0%
S&P 500 EV (14.7%) (18.5%) 10.8%

Sector Breakdown

Formerly Safe Spaces of Healthcare and Technology Declined the most

Industry Q2 ’22 YTD LTM
Bus Services 0.4% 3.9% 26.4%
Consumer 0.8% 1.5% 9.9%
Energy 4.2% 7.4% 22.1%
Healthcare (2.0%) (0.6%) 7.3%
Industrials 1.2% 7.3% 12.9%
Technology (1.6%) (1.7%) 6.3%

Examining the Lincoln PMI

EBITDA Multiples Versus Earnings

~35%+
Expansion of Lincoln PMI valuation multiples since Q1 2014

Summary

The Lincoln PMI

General Observations

  • Private company enterprise values decreased in Q2 2022 from record levels in Q1 2022 as the Lincoln PMI decreased 0.4%. The index has increased 34.1% from pre-pandemic levels observed in Q4 2019 but growth has slowed for over a year.
  • Despite fairly similar growth in 2021, the Lincoln PMI and S&P 500 EV experienced diverging performance in 2022 as multiple contraction in the public markets drove a much greater decline in the S&P 500 EV relative to the Lincoln PMI.
  • Since its inception in Q1 2014, the Lincoln PMI has shown that private company enterprise value multiples have been less volatile than public company multiples and that earnings are the primary factor driving long term value creation.

Enterprise Value Results

  • In Q2 2022, private market valuations continued to hinge on whether companies can execute on projected growth while also mitigating recessionary pressures caused by supply chain issues, labor shortages and inflationary pressures; however, these headwinds are posing greater and greater risks to growth initiatives.
  • In Q2 2022, both the Lincoln PMI and S&P 500 EV indices benefited from improved operating results; however, multiple contraction was significantly more material in the public markets.
  • Fundamental performance remains the primary driver of long-term enterprise value growth in the Lincoln PMI, as demonstrated by the stronger earnings results and more stable multiples in the private markets to start 2022.

Industry Breakdown on an enterprise value basis

  • Despite being the strongest performers and viewed as the safest industries over the last two years, healthcare and technology experienced the largest declines of the quarter and some of their largest declines since the inception of the Lincoln PMI.
  • Although growth slowed across most industries, energy continued to rebound at an accelerated rate given heightened demand relative and supply chain pressures resulting in part from the conflict in Ukraine, which drove an increase in oil and gas prices.

In Summary, we believe the Lincoln PMI

  • Enables investors in private companies, including private equity firms, to benchmark their investments against their peers and the S&P 500 on both enterprise value and equity value bases;
  • Demonstrates that private companies generate returns comparable to major public stock market indices with less volatility;
  • Offers many unique valuation insights into the fair value of private companies for a wide array of stakeholders and investors; and
  • Represents a significant enhancement to the information available to investors in private companies.

Methodology

Source of Data and Sample Size

On a quarterly basis, Lincoln determines the enterprise fair value of over 3,800 portfolio companies for over 125 sponsors (i.e., private equity groups and lenders to private equity groups). These portfolio companies report quarterly financial results to the sponsor or lender. Lincoln obtains this information and determines the appropriate enterprise value multiple so as to compute the enterprise value in accordance with the fair value measurement principles of generally accepted accounting principles. In assessing enterprise value, Lincoln relies on well accepted valuation methodologies such as the market approach and income approach considering each company’s historical and projected performance and other qualitative and quantitative factors. Finally, each valuation is then vetted by auditors, company management, boards of directors and regulators. Upon concluding each quarterly valuation cycle, Lincoln aggregates the underlying financial performance and enterprise value data for analysis.

To construct the Lincoln PMI, Lincoln selects a subsection of the companies valued each quarter, including private companies each generating earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization of less than $100.0 million, disregarding venture-stage businesses and non-operating entities, such as special purpose entities that own real estate and specialty finance assets.

For more information, visit www.lincolninternational.com/services/valuations-and-opinions/lincolnpmi

 

3,800
Portfolio companies are evaluated by Lincoln on a quarterly basis to determine their Enterprise Fair Value
125+
Sponsors participate in Lincoln PMI i.e. private equity groups & lenders to private equity groups

 

Academic Advisors

Professor Steven Kaplan

Professor Steven Kaplan is a Senior Advisor to Lincoln’s Valuations and Opinions Group. He is the Neubauer Family Distinguished Service Professor of Entrepreneurship and Finance and Kessenich E.P. Faculty Director at the Polsky Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation at the University of Chicago Booth School of Business. Among other courses, Professor Kaplan teaches advanced Master of Business Administration and executive courses in entrepreneurial finance and private equity, corporate finance, corporate governance and wealth management. Professor Kaplan conducts research on a wide array of issues in private equity, venture capital, corporate governance, boards of directors, mergers and acquisitions and corporate finance. He has been a member of the Chicago Booth faculty since 1988.

Professor Kaplan serves on the board of Morningstar and several fund and company advisory boards. He is also a Research Associate at the National Bureau of Economic Research and an Associate Editor of the Journal of Financial Economics.

Professor Kaplan received a Bachelor of Arts, summa cum laude, in applied mathematics and economics from Harvard College and earned a Doctor of Philosophy in business economics from
Harvard University.

Professor Michael Minnis

Professor Michael Minnis is a Senior Advisor to Lincoln’s Valuations and Opinions Group. He is a Professor of Accounting at the University of Chicago Booth School of Business, where he researches the role of accounting information in allocating investment efficiently by both managers and capital providers. His recent research focuses on understanding the role of privately held companies in the U.S. economy and how these firms use financial reporting to access, deploy and manage capital. He particularly enjoys identifying unique data and methods to empirically examine issues in a novel way.

In January 2018, Professor Minnis became a member of the Private Company Council, the primary advisory council to the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) on private company issues. Professor Minnis received his Ph.D. from the University of Michigan and his Bachelor of Science from the University of Illinois, where he graduated with highest honors.

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IMPORTANT DISCLOSURE: The Lincoln Private Market Index (LPMI) is an informational indicator only and does not constitute investment advice or an offer to sell or a solicitation to buy any security. It is not possible to directly invest in the LPMI. Some of the statements above contain opinions based upon certain assumptions regarding the data used to create the LPMI, and these opinions and assumptions may prove incorrect. Actual results could vary materially from those implied or expressed in such statements for any reason. The LPMI has been created on the basis of information provided by third-party sources that are believed to be reliable, but Lincoln International has not conducted an independent verification of such information. Lincoln International makes no warranty or representation as to the accuracy or completeness of such third-party information.

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