Private equity adapts to the new climate

“Houses have the luxury of waiting to see where the markets are going” Malcolm Wright, KPMG

Private equity firms raised $163.5 billion in the first three months of the year, with six leveraged buyout companies raising $82 billion in the quarter, up from $64 billion in the last quarter of 2007, according to Private Equity Intelligence, a research company. However, leveraged buyout firms led only $73 billion of takeovers this year, which is less than a third of the $234 billion of deals announced in the same period in 2007.