The slowdown in deal making leaves private equity with record unsold assets

Stay informed with free updates

Simply sign up for the World myFT Digest – delivered straight to your inbox.

Good morning.

Private equity groups globally have a record 28,000 unsold companies worth more than $3 trillion, as a sharp slowdown in deal-making creates a crisis for investors seeking to sell assets.

The figures, revealed in Bain & Co's annual private equity report, show how quickly the industry has grown over the past decade, as well as the challenges it faces from rising interest rates that have increased financing costs.

“It may take another two or three years before the money starts coming back [to investors]”That's probably the No. 1 interest in the market right now,” the head of Bain's private equity practice told the Financial Times. Read the full report and more from the interview with Hugh MacArthur.

Here are the other things I'm monitoring today:

BIDEN BUDGET: The White House will release the president's fiscal budget projections for next year, including a corporate tax increase and a tax on billionaires.

Congress: US intelligence agencies testify at the annual Senate Intelligence Committee hearing on global threats to US security.

IPO News: Reddit roadshow begins today. The social media company hopes to sell 15.3 million shares at a price of between $31 and $34 per share in its imminent initial public offering, valued at up to $6.4 billion. Here's the latest.

China: The annual meeting of the country's parliament ends today. The sudden cancellation of a press conference scheduled to be hosted by Xi Jinping's second-in-command highlights the increasing centralization of power in the country.

War between Israel and Hamas: The UN Security Council is scheduled to meet to discuss sexual violence. Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz is scheduled to attend the meeting and speak to reporters at 2:30 pm ET as the United States and the European Union prepare to send humanitarian aid to northern Gaza by sea amid a worsening humanitarian crisis.

On Saturday, May 4 in Washington, D.C., join Jake Sullivan, Gucci Westman, Jancis Robinson, Anne Applebaum and many more at the third annual FT Weekend: US Edition. As a FirstFT Americas subscriber, get 10% off your ticket today with promo code NewslettersxFestival.

Five more stories top

1. Americans are increasingly happy about the economy but are reluctant to give Joe Biden credit, according to a new Financial Times poll. The grim polling news comes as the president begins his re-election bid with a campaign based in part on the economic boom the United States has seen during his term. Here are more results from the latest FT-Michigan Ross poll.

MORE ON THE 2024 ELECTION: Billionaire Republican donors Liz Uehlein and her husband, Dick, will help fund Donald Trump's reelection campaign. The Uihleins were among the largest donors to Florida Governor Ron DeSantis' campaign.

Analysis: Why don't American voters trust Biden on the economy? Claire Jones in Washington digs deeper into the results of the latest FT-Michigan Ross poll.

2. Yesterday, the United States airlifted its embassy staff out of Haiti as violence swept this Caribbean country and gangs set fire to government buildings in the capital, Port-au-Prince. Prime Minister Ariel Henry remains in hiding in Puerto Rico, while the 15-member Caribbean Community called an emergency meeting in Jamaica later today and invited the United States, the United Nations and Brazil. Read more about the island's descent into violence and chaos.

3. Thomson Reuters has an $8 billion deep pocket to spend on acquisitions and investments in artificial intelligence, its CEO told the Financial Times. The media and data group is betting that technology will transform rather than undermine its business of providing information to lawyers, accountants and other professionals. Read the full interview with Steve Hasker.

4. Portugal's center-right Democratic Alliance won a narrow victory in yesterday's parliamentary elections, but fell far short of securing a majority, turning the far-right Chiga party into a potential kingmaker. The result represents another important advance for the right in the European Union, where conservatives have won elections or joined coalitions in Italy, Greece, Sweden and Finland in the past two years. But it also places Portugal in a period of political uncertainty and potential instability.

5. Apple and Tesla are experiencing cracks in their strategies in China as local rivals gain more power. The declining market share and sales numbers reported this month suggest that the two groups are facing increasing competition and geopolitical tensions between the United States and China. Both have turned to the antagonist to try to maintain their appeal.

Great read today

Historically, Mato Grosso, a state in Brazil larger than France and Germany combined, has been viewed as a backwater state. Today it is being transformed by a revolution, not in semiconductors or artificial intelligence, but in agriculture. It is now one of Brazil's richest states, and has a growing number of millionaires and billionaires keen to meet the growing global demand for food, especially from China. However, a threat to Brazil's thriving agricultural sector looms: climate change.

We read too. . .

Ruchir Sharma: Bitcoin bulls have been mostly proven right about the cryptocurrency's prospects as a long-term investment. It looks increasingly like a powerful asset, says the president of Rockefeller International.

'The US is in a much more dangerous state than Russia': Models of Peter Torshin, son of dissident Soviet physicist, predicted social instability in 2020 with great accuracy. But was it just luck?

Meeting people on the go: The ability to interrupt the chatter that makes business meetings miserable is a greatly underrated skill, says Belita Clark.

Today's chart

The pound sterling is the only major currency in the developed world that has strengthened against the dollar this year. “Suddenly, the UK looks more boring compared to other countries — and boring is a good thing,” said Athanasios Vamfakidis, global head of G10 FX strategy at Bank of America. “This means you avoid volatility.” Although the UK was plunged into recession at the end of last year, investors are more encouraged about the outlook for 2024. Here's why.

Take a break from the news

Oppenheimer was the big winner at last night's Academy Awards, winning Best Picture and six other awards. Here's a rundown of the Oscars from our man in Hollywood, Christopher Grimes.

Additional contributions from Irwin Cruz and Emily Goldberg