Mustafa Siddiqui Launches SQ Capital

Private Equity Firm to Focus on the $150B Secondary Market

NEW YORK, Jan. 8, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- SQ Capital, a private equity secondaries firm, launched today under the leadership of Mustafa Siddiqui, Blackstone's former Global Head of GP Stakes. The firm will focus on secondary opportunities mainly in the U.S. and European middle market. This market segment comprises approximately 2,000 funds that account for two-thirds of total private equity assets under management, yet remains significantly underpenetrated by existing secondaries platforms. SQ Capital will target best-in-class returns across a balanced mix of equity and equity-like investments in LP interests and GP-led continuation vehicles.

The firm launches at a time of unprecedented demand for liquidity among private equity LPs and GPs. A 65% decrease in exit volumes since 2021 has resulted in a backlog of approximately 28,000 unsold portfolio companies—40% of which have been held by private equity funds for more than four years. A buyer's market has emerged with LPs and GPs increasingly turning to the secondary market as a core avenue for liquidity.

SQ Capital brings exceptional rigor and professionalism to secondaries, particularly in the middle market. The firm leverages a distinctive combination of a direct investing approach—honed through decades of private equity experience across multiple macroeconomic cycles—and an insider's understanding of GPs and their portfolios. SQ Capital's deep relationships with GPs situate the firm as a preferred buyer while affording it access to better information and deal flow. Together, these advantages position SQ Capital to access and select the right assets, price them more accurately, and generate distinctive value for its investors.

As an AI-native secondaries firm, SQ Capital uses a cutting-edge technology stack and enhanced data sets to enable faster and better-informed investment decisions. This is a critical advantage in a market segment where information is a scarce resource. SQ Capital's approach is underpinned by its proprietary SQORE system, which evaluates secondary opportunities against a bespoke set of criteria distilled from decades of cross-sector investing experience.

"I'm thrilled to launch SQ Capital with an outstanding team that brings extensive private equity experience, wide-ranging GP relationships, and distinctive data and AI capabilities to truly raise the bar in secondaries," said Mustafa Siddiqui, Founder & CEO. "The secondary market is at a major inflection point—last year's market volume, already at close to $150 billion, represents only 2% of total private equity assets under management and the opportunity set is growing much faster than the ready supply of dedicated capital."

Prior to founding SQ Capital, Siddiqui spent nearly 15 years at Blackstone, serving most recently as the Global Head of GP Stakes and before that as Senior Managing Director in Private Equity. He began his private equity career at General Atlantic in 2002.

About SQ Capital
SQ Capital is a modern secondaries firm designed to deliver alpha. We target best-in-class returns across LP-led and GP-led opportunities, focusing on the middle market.

Our team draws on an elite direct investing pedigree, deep GP relationships, an insider's understanding of private equity GPs and their portfolios, and cutting-edge data and AI capabilities. We combine these strengths with an entrepreneurial mindset to move quickly and with conviction to raise the bar in the secondary market.

SQ Capital is headquartered in New York City. For more information, please visit www.SQCapital.com

SOURCE SQ Capital