James Taylor

In the week it emerged that UK retailer Sainsbury’s is the latest high-profile public company being targeted by private equity, new research shows that a record number of take-private deals were the biggest single source of the industry’s growth in the last 12 months.

Sydney-based Catalyst Investment Managers has acquired a 43.5 percent stake in EziBuy, an Australasian apparel and home décor catalogue company. The investment provided an exit for Direct Capital, a private equity firm in New Zealand.

TowerBrook Capital Partners has bought iconic UK shoemaker Jimmy Choo in a £185 million deal, generating a substantial return for previous owners Lion Capital in just over two years.

As lenders continued to supply debt to the industry at increasingly favourable terms, private equity firms were able to cash in last year by taking big cash dividends from refinancing, writes James Taylor.

TowerBrook Capital Partners has bought iconic UK shoemaker Jimmy Choo in a £185 million deal, generating a substantial return for previous owners Lion Capital in just over two years.

As lenders continued to supply debt to the industry at increasingly favourable terms, private equity firms were able to cash in last year by taking big cash dividends from refinancing, writes James Taylor.

Leading advisers to private equity are beginning to come out in support of the industry, following a wave of recent criticism.

The battle to secure the largest leveraged buyout to date has taken a further twist, after the rival consortium of real estate investors submitted a second counter-bid worth $41 billion for US property business Equity Office.

Leading advisers to private equity are beginning to come out in support of the industry, following a wave of recent criticism.

The battle to secure the largest leveraged buyout to date has taken a further twist, after the rival consortium of real estate investors submitted a second counter-bid worth $41 billion for US property business Equity Office.