The private equity industry unfortunately has a long history of train wrecks when it comes to private investments in public entities (PIPEs). The most recent: TPG Capital's $1.35 billion loss on its disastrous investment in Washington Mutual. Other worrisome financial deals include Warburg Pincus' $800 million investment in MBIA. But TheDeal.com notes that so far this year an "astonishing" $180 billion worth of PIPEs have been placed. Of that, sponsors invested about $19.1 billion, or 11 percent, compared with just $3.4 billion of last year's $84 billion total (PlacementTracker). It's fair to say the industry has a love-hate relationship with the concept. While PIPEs are hardly ideal, the fact is such deals remain a decent option if you want to deploy capital right now. Full-on buyouts are all but impossible given the financing situation. So we may see more PIPE deals soon. 

For more:
- here's the article from TheDeal.com

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