In this episode, Peter Witte, EY Global Private Equity Lead Analyst, joins Luke Pais, EY-Parthenon Asean Private Equity Leader, to talk about the private equity (PE) conditions in 2025 and what they mean for 2026.

Key takeaways:

• 2026 is shaping up as a liquidity-first year: Trade and PE-to-PE exits are expected to do more of the heavy lifting than initial public offerings (IPOs), putting a premium on early exit readiness and clean, buyer-friendly financials.
• In Asia-Pacific, 2026 remains a “where to play matters” market: Momentum is there, but it’s uneven — India and Japan continue to look like the clearer lanes for scale deals and exits, while China stays more subdued amid structural and geopolitical headwinds.
• For 2026, the playbook is getting more operational: General partners (GPs) are leaning into control situations and artificial intelligence (AI)-enabled transformation, while limited partners (LPs) stay committed but more selective.

In this episode, Geophin George, EY-Parthenon Asean Transactions and Corporate Finance Leader and Wai Kit Lai, EY-Parthenon Asean Private Equity Value Creation Leader, join Luke Pais EY-Parthenon Asean Private Equity Leader to talk about the evolving landscape of due diligence in a complex and volatile deal-making environment.

As the need for deeper analysis and rigorous stress testing of assumptions becomes paramount, we explore how emerging risks—such as cybersecurity, climate impact and regulatory changes—are reshaping the due diligence process. With the pressure to move quickly in a competitive market, technology, particularly artificial intelligence (AI) and advanced analytics, is playing a crucial role in providing sharper insights into risks and unlocking new avenues for value creation.

Sustainability is no longer a checkbox for private equity (PE). It is reshaping how PE firms invest, grow portfolio companies and deliver long-term returns. With rising expectations from investors, regulators and consumers, environmental, social and governance (ESG) metrics have moved from compliance to strategy, creating new opportunities in renewable energy, circular economy and sustainable agriculture.

In this episode, Luke Pais, EY-Parthenon Asean Private Equity Leader, along with guest, Saurabh Dhingra, EY-Parthenon Asean Financial Services Strategy and Execution Leader, talk about how PE firms are driving sustainable outcomes across their portfolios.

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