How much private equity blood will spill?

Blackstone Group's 90 percent plunge in first quarter profits sent another shudder down the spine of the private equity industry. The Carlyle Group's credit fund woes certainly aren't helping things, either. The New York Times suggests that all the top funds are reeling. This brings up the Freescale Semiconductor deal. Recall that in 2006, Blackstone won a bidding war for $17.6 billion, a sum that stunned Wall Street at the time. Now the company is said to be hurting. Its junk bonds have tanked. Demand has fallen. And the future is unclear. The poor economy may start the real bell-tolling for the top firms. If their portfolio companies start failing, it could get very ugly for the entire private equity industry.

For more:
- here's the New York Times article

Related Articles:
Is Blackstone now a buy? Article
Consolidation in the PE industry? Article
PE funds look to SWFs for deal financing. Article
Leon Black suffers most among PE kings. Article
Lehman takes distressed debt plunge. Article
Not surprising, private equity returns slow. Article
Blackstone Group's earnings disappoint. Article