Life has changed for the private-equity industry.
In the past, easy credit, a steady economy and willing sellers created a buying bonanza. And no firm was more voracious than Sun Capital Partners, whose well-oiled deal machine purchased, on average, a business every 11 days for the past three years.
But Sun, like the rest of the buyout industry, will have to prove its mettle in the years ahead. Lenders have tightened their purse strings, making new deals scarce. The industry must quickly make tough decisions about fixing, selling or closing pieces of its companies and whether to pour money into their investments that are under water.
Source: “Buyout All-Stars Stumble,” WSJ, 3/10/08