Introduction

Abstract

While the four interviewees in the first section of this book don’t speak as one on all matters — in particular, they diverge about the prospects for private equity in emerging markets — it’s striking how much they have in common. In particular, it seems that the enormous funds raised for highly leveraged large buyouts in the boom were a by-product of the liquidity bubble in the middle of the last decade, that they are judged to have benefited those running them more than the investors, and that, due to the substantial amount of ‘dry powder’ remaining in the system, challenges to the business model in a low-debt, low-growth environment and diversification by the managers, it will be some time before similar-sized funds are raised again — if they ever are.