Norton Rose Fulbright partner Anastasia Slivker discusses deal volume trends across venture capital and growth equity sectors as of May 2025.
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De-SPAC activity is rebounding with sober-minded deal structures
“I'm seeing DSPACs pick up. We're seeing that come back into the fold in a very different way, right? Everyone's very sober-minded about it. You know, it's not a tulip Frenzy anymore.”
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Many growth equity deals get initiated but fail to close
“So there, there's the struggle of trying to figure out how to put it together. And also seeing that not as many deals as we would think, many deals get started, not as many of them get close, get to close.”
Insight
Growth equity lacks the standard forms found in early-stage VC
“Unlike in the pure venture capital place, it's essentially, you know, once you're out there raising cash, the terms are relatively clearly set. We're doing sort of a, using a set of forms that everybody's very comfortable with in this particular space. There's…”
Insight
Growth deals stall on exit and control terms, not valuation
“It's the tough conversations happen a little bit late, and those tough conversations are about exit, and they're about control, and they're not often about valuation. Those conversations get solved really quickly, and folks think, oh, we're done. We've got our…”
Insight
Investor partnerships are temporary and require explicit upfront exit terms
“This is a relationship that you're getting into that is actually more often than not, not intended to be marriage. You're, you never really stay married. You're going to separate. At some point. And so you need to have a very clear conversation of how and when…”
Insight
Preferred equity mechanics are core economic terms, not legal technicalities
“This balancing act of equity versus debt versus how that, that preferred is going to, you know, how, what the convertible mechanics are what the call options are, the redemption rights, mandatory, non-mandatory, all those seem like frustrating lawyer details. …”