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February 2015 Private Equity Digest
Practices
People
February 20, 2015 download PDF
In this edition of the Paul, Weiss Private Equity Digest, we look at federal leveraged lending guidelines issued by U.S. federal banking regulators and examine the issues raised by the federal guidance and the impact it is having on the marketplace, in particular on the availability of credit for sponsor M&A transactions.
In market news, U.S. sponsor-related M&A activity by number of deals improved slightly to begin the new year, but total dollar value was down significantly in January, falling to $11 billion from $40.3 billion in December. Global sponsor-related M&A activity was also mixed, with total dollar value falling approximately 38% from $78.3 billion in December to $29.4 billion in January, while the number of deals stayed relatively flat. U.S. sponsor-backed exits were slightly down in January as compared to December, whether measured by number or total dollar volume of deals.
U.S. private equity fundraising saw a significant increase in dollar value to $20.4 billion in January 2015, from $10.5 billion in December 2014. The number of funds that closed was down, however, with 16 funds closing in January 2015, as compared to 20 funds closed in December.