PERG | Private equity industry to consult on refreshing world-leading transparency and disclosure guidelines
31.07.2024

Private equity industry to consult on refreshing world-leading transparency and disclosure guidelines

The Private Equity Reporting Group (PERG) and the British Private Equity & Venture Capital Association (BVCA), have launched a consultation to refresh the Walker Guidelines for transparency and disclosure in private equity.

The consultation comes as the private equity industry continues to grow both in scale and importance to the UK economy, with over £20bn invested in UK portfolio companies in 2023.

The Walker Guidelines are unique to the UK, and demonstrate the private equity industry’s commitment to transparency. To comply with the Guidelines, private equity businesses voluntarily publish additional information on its largest in scope UK businesses publicly, comparable to disclosures included in public company annual reports. No other country operates a similar scheme, making the UK a world leader in transparency and disclosure for private equity.

PERG and the BVCA are inviting comments from interested parties on options for updating the Guidelines. The consultation will review both the scope and requirements of the Guidelines, with the goal of introducing refreshed reporting requirements that continue to be comparable to those of the FTSE 250.


View the full consultation
Nick Land

Chair of PERG, said:

“Given the increased levels of private equity activity in the UK, and the continued high levels of public interest in the sector, it is fundamental that the Walker Guidelines evolve to remain fit for purpose. We expect this root and branch review will ensure that reporting requirements for large, private equity-backed businesses remain proportionate, and in line with best practice reporting of publicly listed companies of a similar size.”

Michael Moore

Chief Executive of the BVCA, said:

“The Walker Guidelines have made the UK private equity industry a leader in transparency and disclosure. They play an important role in helping the BVCA tell the story of how private equity contributes to the UK economy.

"We welcome the publication of this consultation and anticipate that a refreshed framework for the industry to report against will bring with it greater trust in the sector and foster a deeper understanding of the support it provides to so many great businesses across our nations and regions.”

The consultation will run for two months, closing on 23:59 GMT on the 30th of September 2024. Once concluded, PERG and the BVCA will summarise the responses and outline next steps in Q4 2024, and publish final amended Guidelines in January 2025, alongside the next Private Equity Annual Public Reports, the 17th in a series of yearly reports.

Comments can be submitted to [email protected] and you can read the full consultation document here. Or contact Ciaran Harris at [email protected] for any queries or to arrange a meeting to discuss the proposals and your comments in more detail.

Notes to editors

1. The Walker Guidelines

In February 2007, the BVCA asked Sir David Walker to undertake an independent review of the adequacy of disclosure and transparency in private equity, with a view to recommending a set of guidelines for conformity by the industry on a voluntary basis. This review resulted in the publication of the Guidelines in November 2007.

The Guidelines have four main components – three that apply to portfolio companies and a fourth that applies to the private equity firms managing or advising funds that own the portfolio companies:

  • Portfolio companies should prepare disclosures as stipulated in the Guidelines in their audited annual report and financial statements and prepare a mid-year update.
  • Portfolio companies are required to publish their annual report and a mid-year update in a timely and accessible manner on their company website.
  • Private equity firms should publish certain disclosures on their own website.
  • Portfolio companies are required to share certain data, which is presented in an aggregated performance report by EY to illustrate the contribution of private equity to the UK economy.
  • The Guidelines operate on a ‘comply or explain’ basis.


2. Benchmarking report

The consultation is accompanied by a Benchmarking report, prepared by Deloitte. In order to inform this consultation, the BVCA, at the request of PERG, commissioned Deloitte to conduct a benchmarking exercise to compare and assess current transparency and disclosure requirements within the Guidelines (as set out in Part V of the Guidelines) with FTSE 250 and other relevant corporate reporting regimes. This report has informed this consultation exercise and is published alongside this consultation document.


3. The Private Equity Reporting Group

The Private Equity Reporting Group (PERG) is an independent body that was established in March 2008 to monitor conformity with the Guidelines and make periodic recommendations to the British Private Equity & Venture Capital Association (BVCA) for changes to the Guidelines if required.

The PERG is chaired by Nick Land, a non-executive director on a number of boards and previously the executive chairman of EY in the UK. He is supported by two other independent members: Baroness Drake, a labour peer and former president of the TUC, and Glyn Parry, an experienced finance director working with FTSE companies such as BT Group.


4. The British Private Equity & Venture Capital Association

The BVCA, as the representative body for private equity and venture capital, connects institutional investors, fund managers, companies, advisers and service providers together, with our membership currently comprising more than 600 businesses from across the private capital ecosystem. This includes more than 250 PE and VC firms, 100 institutional investors and 200 professional services firms.

Private capital drives growth – providing the funding, expertise and long-term view that enables companies to innovate and flourish. Our mission is to advocate the transformative nature of the private equity and venture capital community.