Secondaries
Fairness Opinion
An independent third-party assessment that a transaction price is within a reasonable range of fair value.
Fairness opinions are standard in GP-led secondaries and conflicted transactions. They are not appraisals - they assess whether the transaction price is defensible given the available evidence.
LPs should read the underlying assumptions, not just the conclusion. A fairness opinion based on management projections that the GP authored is weaker than one supported by a competitive bid process.