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2008's Most Active Deal-DoersThe ability to source a deal isn't much to brag about these days, with only the rarest of deals actually getting completed. Look no further than Carlyle Group, which is laying off 100 employees /25228/report-major-layoffs-at-the-carlyle-group/ a including a number of its deal team members, for proof. The decline in deals is apparent in a report released by PitchBook Data: For the first three quarters of 2008, there were 1,302 completed deals, a 33% decline from the 1,936 deals over the same period a year ago. Still, 1,302 deals is nothing to sneeze at, and there are plenty of firms out there striking deals, just at a much, much slower pace than, say, two years ago. I believe the phrase I keep hearing is "Ten times more work for one tenth of the results." In the report, PitchBook lists the top 50 most active private equity firms year to date. Guess what? Layoff-burdened Carlyle Group is listed as number three! (However I think they've now been passed by Sun Capital, as the firm told me it's done 23 deals this year, not 19 as PitchBook reports.) Follow the jump to see them all.
- Dear PR Reps, Time To Stop Pitching Stories About How The “Middle Market Is Still Strong”
That’s because the middle market is simply not strong anymore, particularly on the lending side. Take GE Capital, which today revealed cracks on the wall http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/11/business/11electric.html?hp : G.E. said it was seeing rising delinquencies on its consumer and commercial finance business. It plans to set aside provisions for pretax losses of $6.6 billion this year, a sharp rise from 2007, and it expects losses to rise next year to $7.5 billion to $9 billion. (NY Times) This supports yesterday’s story in The Deal, which reported GE Antares has suspended new financing until January http://www.thedeal.com/servlet/ContentServer?pagename=TheDeal/TDDArticle/TDStandardArticle&bn=NULL&c=TDDArticle&cid=1223252366130 (sub req): Chicago-based GE Antares, which dominates the middle market, has walked away from commitments and even pulled staples, sources said. It's true that GE is, for the most part on the sidelines, a source told me, but the firm is still looking at deals. Same goes for Madison Capital, which is rumored to be closed for business. “They’re saying yes. Not often, but they’re still saying yes to conservatively levered loans with low loan to enterprise value and a lot of equity.” "Not very often" is pretty damaging, when it's the two largest mid-market lenders. In Q3 '08, deal volume was down 22.2% from Q3 '07, which was a post-credit crunch quarter itself. This week alone, peHUB tracked a mere 17 new deal announcements. Depending your size threshold for middle market, most of these deals barely even make the cut. The middle market even was down at the start of this year, when a headline
- Kind Of A Big Week
Instead of focusing on one deal, I’ve briefly covered a handful of the week’s most interesting transactions. After the gushing font of deal activity this week, it was hard to pick just one. After the jump, read about The Flip-Floppers, The Cross Border Challenge, The Redeemer and The Repeat Offender. Plus, an honorable mention.
- PE Week Wire: Thursday, September 4, 2008
Random Ramblings
- PE Week Wire: Thursday, September 4, 2008
Random Ramblings
- PE Week Wire: Tues., May 6, 2008
Random Ramblings