I despise private equity firms from the bottom of my heart.
They borrow money to buy companies, strip them of assets as they borrow even more money and often bankrupt them since many of the asset-stripped companies are zombies which can’t repay the borrowed money out of current income.
It breaks my heart that companies that were built by the dedication of founders and workers to produce products and services for customers are destroyed by these vultures. The process is legal but workers and the marketplace as a whole suffer when good companies are bankrupted.
The private equity companies don’t intend to run companies for the long term. They intend to strip them, sell them and repeat the process. Their assets are illiquid if they can’t sell their companies. They make money on deal-making.
Private Equity World Engulfed by Perfect Storm
Tariff turmoil dashes investors’ hopes for payouts; dealmaking grinds to near standstill
By Matt Wirz and Miriam Gottfried, The Wall Street Journal, April 17, 2025
One of Wall Street’s most consistent profit engines is close to breaking down.
Even before President Trump’s tariff chaos, buyout firms had been struggling to sell their portfolio companies and return money to anxious investors. Now recession fears and market turmoil have brought dealmaking to a near standstill.
The longer the deal logjam lasts, the harder it will be for firms to hand money back to clients such as pensions and endowments. The amount of unrealized value the funds owe their investors has hit record levels, according to an analysis by credit-ratings firm Moody’s Ratings. That makes it tougher for the firms to raise new funds…
Firms are sitting on a record 29,000 companies worth $3.6 trillion, half of which they have owned for five years or more, he said. Clients are becoming less willing to make new investments and buyout fundraising dropped by almost 25% last year, he said. … [end quote]
Private equity firms are beginning to offer shares to private investors. These have high fees and are often illiquid. (The investor can’t get their money back on demand.) Also, there’s no active market for shares in private equity (nothing comparable to the stock market) so it’s impossible to verify fair value.
Washington Signals Plans to Open Private Funds to More Investors
Momentum is building in the Trump administration and Congress to change rules blocking most Americans from investing in private equity
By Chris Cumming, The Wall Street Journal, March 6, 2025
The new leadership in Washington has declared plans to fulfill a longtime policy goal for private-equity managers: expanding the pool of ordinary people who can invest in the asset class…
These are the broad mass of Americans who don’t meet the wealth thresholds to invest in private equity, venture capital or hedge funds. Such vehicles are generally restricted under securities law to institutions such as pension funds and endowments, or accredited investors who meet wealth and income cutoffs… [end quote]
There’s a darn good reason the investments are restricted to accredited investors who presumably understand the risks involved.
Retail investors can invest in the private equity companies’ stock already.
This is not the same as participating in private equity funds’ business activities.
I invest in the stock of companies (such as MO) with business models I despise. I could see investing in the stock of a beaten-down private equity company’s stock in anticipation of business conditions becoming more favorable to their despicable business practices (e.g. lower interest rates). I would not invest in their business directly due to high fees and low liquidity.
The situation for private equity will become worse if long-term interest rates stay high because many zombie companies with low-interest debt won’t be able to refinance.
Wendy