Private equity firms win with Alltel deal

June 8, 2008 | By Jim Kim

It's tempting to look at the $28 billion Verizon-Alltel agreement and declare that it represents a coming wave of strategic deals. It may indeed hearken such a trend, but don't think the private equity guys are missing out. The Financial Times reports that TPG and the private equity arm of Goldman Sachs stand to earn $1.3 billion each on their Alltel investments, made just seven months ago. Their annualized return: 25 percent, which isn't bad in this environment. Apparently, Verizon passed on making such a deal last year, in part because perceived valuations were high. The credit crunch made them think twice.

For more:
- here's the Financial Times article