由于私募股权行业面临交易低迷和资金分配减少的困境，收购基金的投资者正越来越多地转向创新的类债务交易，以在缺乏回报的情况下获取现金。根据投资银行富瑞（Jefferies）的数据，去年这类结构化「替代」交易的规模已从2024年的60亿美元增长至90亿美元，预计今年这一趋势仍将持续。

在这些优先股交易中，买方会向卖方提供预付款，并获得基础基金的所有现金分配，直到预付款和最低回报率得到偿还为止。此后，卖方将享有大部分或全部剩余的收益。这种机制使投资者能够避免折价出售基金份额，从而更好地管理资金流。

富瑞指出，此趋势的核心驱动力在于私有公司被持有的时间延长，导致近年来的分配水平持续低迷。这促使家庭办公室和保险公司等基金支持者积极寻找新途径，并吸引了包括二级市场投资者、优先股专家和替代信贷管理机构在内的多样化买家群体。

As the private equity sector faces a prolonged dealmaking downturn and lower payouts, backers of buyout funds are increasingly turning to creative debt-like transactions to generate cash. According to investment bank Jefferies, investors agreed to $9 billion worth of alternative, structured deals last year, up from $6 billion in 2024, with the trend expected to persist.

Under these preferred equity arrangements, the buyer provides the seller with a cash advance and receives all cash distributions from the underlying funds until the advance and a minimum return are repaid. Once this threshold is met, the seller retains most or all of the remaining upside, avoiding the need to sell stakes at a discount.

This shift is primarily driven by private companies being held longer, resulting in low levels of distributions for several years. The growing demand has attracted a wider pool of buyers, including secondary investors, preferred equity specialists, and alternative credit managers, who are providing the liquidity that fund backers need.