Institutional Grade Execution with Main Street Deal Flow

Capstone partners with private equity firms to provide institutional quality sell-side, buy-side, and financing solutions while delivering access to one of the most robust privately held company pipelines available.

Brendan BurkeHead of Sponsor Coverage

We have a dedicated sponsor coverage team and full-service solution designed for private equity portfolio companies. Our sponsor team develops relationships with leading middle market private equity firms and captures critical proprietary data regarding each firm’s investment criteria and buying patterns. This intelligence allows us to better serve our private clients by constantly monitoring for potential investment criteria and cultural fit.

Insights for Private Equity Sponsors:

Middle Market Private Equity Index – H1 2025

Private Equity Activity in the Middle Market

Capstone Partners, a leading middle market investment banking firm, released its inaugural H1 2025 Middle Market Private Equity Index Report, examining private equity dealmaking in the middle market. Leveraging market research and Capstone’s proprietary data, we seek to provide sponsors and portfolio companies greater transparency into U.S. middle market private equity activity including fund formations, dry powder, loan issuance, platform and add-on acquisitions, transaction valuations, hold time, portfolio exits, and return distributions.

The report features Capstone’s Middle Market Private Equity Index, which aggregates proprietary middle market private equity data on a quarterly basis and indexes the values to 100 with a base quarter of Q1 2006. Through this methodology, Capstone is able to provide sponsors and portfolio businesses with a unique perspective on the general health of Private Equity market activity. The Private Equity Index value reached 154.1 in Q2 2025, dropping a mere 2.4 points year-over-year (YOY). Quarter-over-quarter (QoQ), the Private Equity Index value registered a steeper decline of 35.7 points as fundraising and exit volumes softened.

Why Private Equity Firms Are Struggling To Recruit and Retain Business Development Professionals

In an effort to gain more insight for our private equity partners, Capstone Managing Director Brendan Burke sat down with Erin Carroll and Bill Matthews of BraddockMatthews to discuss the development of and current trends in the private equity business development function. Erin and Bill have great insight into the human capital dynamics behind the PE business development function and have placed more people into this role than any other executive search firm. Access the article for a summary of his findings.