“It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a private equity firm in possession of a good (i.e. not yet fully invested) fund must be in want of an investment opportunity.” Apologies to Jane Austen, Mr Darcy and the Bennets.
The investment opportunity that private equity firms are “in want of” is, always has been and, we strongly suspect, always will be, a business at a good price, with upside potential, offering the prospect of a successful exit – a combination that will generate a real return on the capital employed by them, or rather the investors in their funds.
