Jake Bullen has been quoted the article “Private Equity’s Big Moment: With Trillions of Dollars on Hand, Firms Are Ready to Feast on Pandemic Spoils,” published by The Globe and Mail.
Writes the Globe:
“Private equity fund managers are planning for a summer like no other.
Flush with more cash than ever before – a $2-trillion war chest – fund managers around the world are aggressively pitching deals to businesses battered by the economic fallout from the novel coronavirus. Canadian players are in the heart of the action, with everyone from multibillion-dollar pension plans and global fund managers to smaller PE funds that buy family-owned companies looking past COVID-19, and trying to find ways to invest in an economy that is bouncing back.
There is only one problem: Few are willing to sell – at least so far.
It’s creating a delicious dynamic in corporate Canada and around the globe. Sophisticated private equity investors are itching to put capital to work at what their perceive as bargain-basement prices, while equally savvy sellers are holding out for better offers.”
This, coupled with uncertainty about what the future holds, means experts have different opinions on what investors and sellers will do next.
Says Jake: “We will likely see private equity buying more private businesses in the next two to five years, or for that matter, the next six months to five years….. And I think the reason why is the inevitable wave of succession planning as owners in their 60s and 70s decide to go to the market.”
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