About Baird Capital

• Founded: 1997

• Headquarters: Milwaukee, Wisconsin, United States

• AUM: Approximately $4bn as of 2023

• Strategy: Mid-market buyout, private equity across industrials, healthcare, business services

• Leadership: Managing directors include Kenneth J. Woods and Susan Bode Ventura

Ares has led investment in a single-asset continuation vehicle structured by Baird Capital around a life sciences portfolio company. The transaction amount was not disclosed. The CV provides existing limited partners optionality to roll equity or exit, while Baird retains the asset for further value creation under extended hold terms.

Single-asset CVs in healthcare and life sciences have increased as GPs seek to extend hold periods beyond typical fund terms for assets requiring longer development runways. Ares's willingness to anchor the deal signals continued buyer appetite for healthcare exposures despite regulatory uncertainty and pricing volatility in biopharma exits. Recent comparable transactions include TPG's $1.1bn single-asset CV for CAA in October 2024 and Carlyle's $1.4bn CV for Sedgwick in early 2024, both structured with anchor commitments from large secondaries buyers.

The structure raises questions about pricing discipline as single-asset CVs proliferate. GP-led transactions now represent over 50% of secondary market volume, up from roughly 30% in 2020, creating incentive misalignment risk when the same GP sets both the exit timeline and the next fund's entry valuation. Baird's decision to retain the asset rather than pursue a traditional exit suggests either a valuation gap with potential buyers or confidence in material upside over the next 18–36 months — worth watching as life sciences M&A activity remains subdued relative to 2021 peak levels.

Source: Secondaries Investor