peHUB Second Opinion 10.16

Back and Forth: The latest in the PE is back, PE is not back saga is... IT'S BACK! "Private equity is finally buying and selling companies again after being virtually halted in its tracks by the credit crisis, but skittish investors and a mountain of debt loom as key obstacles to the industry's full recovery." (Reuters) Annnd the flip side: Not everyone is a PE bull. Some, like Eric Gleacher, feel that the business model is broken. (Dealbook) More Proof Its Back? CVC Capital Partners' deal for the Central European operations of Anheuser-Busch Inbev is the second largest European private equity backed M&A deal year-to-date, bringing the total value of private equity activity to $23 billion so far this year. (Dealzone) Speaking of About-faces: Check out this quote from Alan Greenspan in Bloomberg, via Baseline Scenario: "If they're too big to fail, they're too big," Greenspan said today. "In 1911 we broke up Standard Oil - so what happened? The individual parts became more valuable than the whole. Maybe that's what we need to do." The Shorter, Faster, Cheaper MBA: Accelerated MBA programs of a year or less are gaining in popularity, but critics say they're not right for everyone and may leave some students shortchanged. (BusinessWeek)