09/17/2026
Taking a division cleanly off a corporate balance sheet is one of the harder things to do in private equity. Few buyers are set up for it.
A carve-out means separating systems, standing up functions that never existed independently, installing management and governance, and holding continuity for employees, customers, and suppliers throughout. Most buyers are not set up to do it but the ones that are tend to face a narrower field when they compete.
It also changes what sellers are weighing. In carve-out processes, price is rarely the only consideration. Certainty of ex*****on, reputational risk and protecting the business through transition all carry weight, and a manager with a genuine track record of complex separations can convert that into differentiated deal flow rather than simply bidding higher.
This matters more now than it did five years ago. With leverage and multiple expansion contributing less to returns, value has to be created by making businesses better.
Shawn Khazzam, Global Head of Wealth at Apax, has written for Citywire RIA on what this shift towards quality means for advisers assessing private markets managers.
