News & Articles

Updates on private market liquidity and platform activity

Articles

2026-04-06

Ares and StepStone Scale Structured Secondaries With a $3.1B Vehicle

StepStone raised $3.1 billion for a structured solutions vehicle focused on private market secondaries, with Ares serving as the primary capital provider through its alternative credit funds. The transaction shows how secondaries are increasingly being financed through capital-efficient structures rather than only traditional fund formats. It also signals continued institutional appetite for bespoke liquidity solutions at scale.

2026-04-06

Blue Owl’s $3B Debut Fund Shows GP-Led Secondaries Are Becoming Core Infrastructure

Blue Owl closed more than $3 billion for its debut strategic equity vehicle focused on single-asset continuation funds and direct minority equity transactions. The fund launch comes as GP-led volumes and continuation vehicles continue to take a larger share of the secondary market. It is another sign that sponsor-led liquidity solutions are becoming an established part of the private capital toolkit.

2026-04-06

OpenAI Resets the Pre-IPO Bar With an $852B Valuation

OpenAI closed a $122 billion funding round at an $852 billion post-money valuation, establishing a new benchmark for late-stage private company pricing. The deal underscores how a handful of AI leaders are absorbing unprecedented pools of capital ahead of potential public listings. It also raises the bar for how investors think about scarcity, scale, and liquidity in pre-IPO secondaries.

2026-04-06

Anthropic Becomes the Hottest Trade in AI Secondaries

Demand for Anthropic shares has surged in private secondary markets, while institutional holders have struggled to place roughly $600 million of OpenAI stock for sale. Market participants are treating Anthropic as the scarcest high-conviction AI trade, with limited seller availability tightening pricing. The shift highlights how quickly private-market leadership can rotate even among the largest AI names.

2026-04-06

Private Market Secondaries Are Headed for Another Record Year

Houlihan Lokey survey data cited by Alternative Credit Investor suggests secondaries volumes could surpass $225 billion in 2026, following record activity in 2025. Respondents expect LP-led and GP-led pricing to remain stable or improve, despite the still-slow distribution environment. The takeaway is that secondaries are now being powered by structural demand rather than only cyclical distress.

2026-04-05

Apollo’s $5.4 Billion Debut Secondaries Fund Signals Durable LP Demand for Liquidity Solutions

Apollo’s debut equity and hybrid secondaries fund closed at $5.4 billion, above target, signaling sustained institutional demand for secondary liquidity solutions. The fundraising milestone shows that LPs and sponsors increasingly view secondaries, NAV loans, GP lending, and hybrid structures as core parts of private-market capital formation rather than opportunistic side products.