Key Takeaways
- • Private credit market faces first major liquidity test post-"Liberation Day" with 30,000+ PE portfolio companies in exit backlog, testing non-bank lending resilience and the sustainability of record-pace capital deployment in NAV loans and GP financing structures.
- • Private credit transitions from alternative to essential market infrastructure, with non-bank debt now playing a central role in dealmaking as sponsors, borrowers, and lenders scale lending products at unprecedented volumes while balancing innovation against underwriting discipline.
- • DealMAX 2026 convenes middle-market dealmaking community across three days with keynote sessions on market state, private credit competitive dynamics, and sports industry investment strategies, featuring senior capital markets experts from G2 Capital Advisors, Churchill Asset Management, Houlihan Lokey, and Velocity Capital Advisors.
- • JP Morgan signals strengthening deal flow momentum with John Burns noting stronger volume of companies coming to market, suggesting continued M&A activity despite private credit's liquidity headwinds and regulatory scrutiny.
- • Sports investing emerges as distinct asset class conversation with dedicated keynote panel exploring investment trends and operational value drivers in sports industry, signaling institutional capital's broader diversification beyond traditional credit and equity.
Summary
DealMAX 2026, ACG's premier middle-market dealmaking conference held May 4, 2026, focuses heavily on private credit's evolution and market resilience amid its first significant stress test since "Liberation Day." The conference brought together the full middle-market ecosystem—sponsors, lenders, borrowers, and advisors—to address the sector's transition from alternative financing to essential dealmaking infrastructure. This shift reflects the unprecedented scaling of non-bank lending, NAV loans, and GP financing vehicles, which have become central to current M&A activity.
The private credit landscape faces a critical juncture. With over 30,000 PE portfolio companies in the exit backlog and private credit having moved from niche alternative to mainstream financing channel, the market is navigating its first real liquidity test. The featured session "Private Credit's Next Act: Growth, Competition, and Discipline," moderated by Sola Akinola of Preqin (part of BlackRock), examined how market participants are balancing rapid product innovation—including complex NAV loan and GP financing structures—with fundamental underwriting discipline. Panelists included Parm Atwal (G2 Capital Advisors), Joshua Cherry-Seto (Velocity Capital Advisors), Michael Hommeyer (Houlihan Lokey), and Kevin Meyer (Churchill Asset Management), collectively representing the breadth of non-bank lending platforms now critical to mid-market dealmaking.
Separately, JP Morgan's John Burns highlighted stronger deal flow momentum heading into the conference, noting increased volume of companies coming to market—a signal that M&A activity remains robust despite private credit sector headwinds and persistent questions about liquidity, credit quality, and bubble risk that dominated market discourse throughout 2025 and into 2026.
Beyond credit markets, DealMAX featured a dedicated keynote on sports industry investment strategies, reflecting institutional capital's expanding focus on sector-specific opportunities. This session explored where investment trends in sports are headed and identified operational levers driving value creation in this brand-intensive sector, underscoring the middle market's diversification beyond traditional leverage-driven dealmaking.
The conference agenda, anchored by the ACG Meritorious Service Awards and a state-of-market keynote panel addressing policies shaping dealmaking and M&A activity, positioned DealMAX as both a relationship-building forum and an institutional forum for stress-testing market assumptions amid private credit's maturation.
The private credit landscape faces a critical juncture. With over 30,000 PE portfolio companies in the exit backlog and private credit having moved from niche alternative to mainstream financing channel, the market is navigating its first real liquidity test. The featured session "Private Credit's Next Act: Growth, Competition, and Discipline," moderated by Sola Akinola of Preqin (part of BlackRock), examined how market participants are balancing rapid product innovation—including complex NAV loan and GP financing structures—with fundamental underwriting discipline. Panelists included Parm Atwal (G2 Capital Advisors), Joshua Cherry-Seto (Velocity Capital Advisors), Michael Hommeyer (Houlihan Lokey), and Kevin Meyer (Churchill Asset Management), collectively representing the breadth of non-bank lending platforms now critical to mid-market dealmaking.
Separately, JP Morgan's John Burns highlighted stronger deal flow momentum heading into the conference, noting increased volume of companies coming to market—a signal that M&A activity remains robust despite private credit sector headwinds and persistent questions about liquidity, credit quality, and bubble risk that dominated market discourse throughout 2025 and into 2026.
Beyond credit markets, DealMAX featured a dedicated keynote on sports industry investment strategies, reflecting institutional capital's expanding focus on sector-specific opportunities. This session explored where investment trends in sports are headed and identified operational levers driving value creation in this brand-intensive sector, underscoring the middle market's diversification beyond traditional leverage-driven dealmaking.
The conference agenda, anchored by the ACG Meritorious Service Awards and a state-of-market keynote panel addressing policies shaping dealmaking and M&A activity, positioned DealMAX as both a relationship-building forum and an institutional forum for stress-testing market assumptions amid private credit's maturation.
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