Crises in the financial markets has led to an influx of sellers of private equity assets into the market, understanding this market, how it works and the deals involved I believe has become more important in recent times as deals take longer to go through and in some cases buyers walk away from deals they were happy to agree to only weeks earlier.
According to peHub the market is busy but this is not reflected in the amount of closed deals. Neuberger Berman, recently formed from an MBO from its failing parent - Lehmans invested only 15% of its pool in the secondary private equity market last year -
http://www.pehub.com/40502/neuberger-berman-secondary-deal-flow-at-an-all-time-high-only-called-15-of-fund-last-year/
Caution is clearly rife and good information is more vital than ever so in addition to understanding the Private Equity market one must have an excellent research information department to provide key information on companies and deals. However, as previously noted many jobs and so skills are being cut in the market place. So what is the solution to ensure that deals can be made effectively and to change the balance between the amount of sellers and buyers?
Sylvia James, our trainer in this area with a wealth of experience and expertise in the Corporate LIS marketplace says that "even though the large LBOs have dried up, there is still activity in the MBO market and good research is needed more than ever to back all deal decisions. There may also be opportunities for LIS professionals to offer services to PE firms, who have previously not had formal information and research in-house" What are your thoughts?
Comments