Private equity comeback, part 2

July 18, 2010 | By Jim Kim

When the Blackstone Group (Blackstone Group news) and Thomas H. Lee Partners proposed a $15 billion deal for Fidelity National Information Services, the media trumpeted the deal, which people thought was a sure thing, as a sign that the private equity industry was back (private equity news). But then the deal fell apart. Perhaps a $15 billion deal was a bit aggressive. Though we've seen a spate of smaller deals just recently.

TPG and Goldman Sachs have inked a $1.5 billion deal for diaper-maker Ontex. And the Carlyle Group will buy vitamin company NBTY for $3.8 billion. These are the types of deals that many are hoping for. We've also seen a spate of secondary deals.

In addition, there have been 54 IPOs of private equity-backed companies over the past 12 months. In the first half of the year, PE-backed IPOs have outperformed the S&P 500 by about 7 percent. So once again, people are talking about the comeback of the industry. If the stock of KKR starts to perk up, perhaps that will be a sure sign that the smart money thinks the comeback is truly gathering momentum.

For more:
- here's some perspective form TheDeal