What is a direct secondary?

Historically, the only options for investor liquidity have been a public offering, sale of the company or recapitalization. However, as the private equity industry has matured and developed so has the range of exit options available to investors. A direct secondary transaction is the sale of a particular investor’s investment in a privately-held, operating company to a new third-party investor. 

Private equity investors now have control over the timing of exits and realizing gains and losses of their assets. This provides shareholders and general partners the broad flexibility to more effectively manage their portfolio strategy.

As the leader in the direct secondary market, W Capital is solely dedicated to offering current equity investors an alternative exit strategy for their highly-illiquid direct private equity assets.
 

Who should consider a direct secondary?

W Capital pursues transactions with a broad range of institutional investors such as:

• General Partners managing funds that would benefit from near-term realizations and distributions to limited partners
• Banks, investment banks, insurance companies, family offices, high net worth individuals, and other investment institutions reducing exposure to private equity and venture capital
• Corporations rebalancing their exposure to strategic investment initiatives
• Hedge Funds seeking accelerated returns for investments in private companies, side pockets or redemptions
• Fund-of-Funds reallocating assets for proactive fund management
• Founders or employees seeking liquidity for estate planning purposes