Hope Springs Eternal For PE Pros
Private equity professionals are just as hopeful about the future as they were around this time last year. According to a new survey sponsored by Akin Gump, BMO Capital Markets, and mergermarket, buyout folks expect the market for financing to come back in the second half of next year. That sounds a lot like what they were saying around this time last year, a hopeful prediction that sadly has not come true. I asked Akin Gump Partner Patrick Dooley what that says about private equity investors. His response was "Hope springs eternal." He also insisted insisted that buyout pros do really expect that deal financing will return next year and valuation gaps will narrow. The survey found that 44% of survey respondents who expect valuation gaps to narrow predict it happening in the first half of next year. Meanwhile 61% of those surveyed said they expect financing markets to improve in the first half of 2010.
