Sophie Day

In this edition of Clipway Insights, we have used TESS’ database to analyse the performance of PE-backed software companies and assess their exposure to AI-driven disruption. Software is the largest single sector in many buyout portfolios, and the rise of large language models and AI-enabled development tools has raised genuine questions about which businesses are structurally defensible and which face substitution risk.

In this edition of Clipway Insights, we have used TESS’ database to analyse how unrealised companies are valued by private equity managers. We look at a large dataset and frame those valuations in the context of business fundamentals, particularly growth, and the company’s ability to delever. We also introduce an internal valuation-to-growth metric we have developed, “VEqG” (Valuation to Equity Growth), which helps contextualise the company’s valuation multiple as it relates to the growth in its equity value (not just its EBITDA) since FY 2022. Thanks to our scalable database, we can assess this ratio across thousands of eligible companies at recent record dates, and use the conclusions to determine what could be sensible ranges of that ratio, and benchmarks.