We’ve heard this song before: LPs aren’t getting the returns they expected on the commitments they made to PE funds in the 2010s. In a market inhibited by political shifts, trade uncertainty and higher-for-longer interest rates, PE funds are getting older but not winding down. At the end of May, 54.7% of all active PE funds across the globe were 6 to 9 years old, according to PitchBook’s 2025 US Private Equity Outlook: Midyear Update. At this point in a fund’s lifespan, it should have a clear path to exiting its investments. Moving into the second half of the year, Mike Patrone, a partner in Goodwin’s PE and public M&A practice, said he’s very busy with negotiations and due diligence processes on large cap deals with strategic buyers and smaller distressed transactions. “We’re not seeing the middle market as busy as we’d like to see it, but we’re trying to get there,” Patrone said. Read the PitchBook article for more.