End of a (short-lived) era?

But now, clearly more liquid, many LPs are keen to invest again, at a time deemed opportune to back businesses. That some are teaming up with GPs to provide debt goes a way to illustrating this (see cover). Some GPs are even now revealing that their LPs are exerting pressure on them to deploy money, especially when there are nascent indications that pricing is picking up.

In fact, a few mid-market players have indicated that larger houses are approaching them to buy assets, "to show concerned LPs we're still active." This should account for at least two upcoming secondary buyouts, and may have been partly behind the small handful of others in the last couple of months.

These deals can also be seen as evidence that focus is once again turning back to exits, which were conspicuous by their absence over the course of 2009. This edition features nine, the most we've recorded in any issue this year. Might this window to sell mark the end of what was meant to be the best vintage year since the late 1980s? Perhaps, but such sales could and should infuse LPs with much-needed cash after what can at-best be described as a long, dry spell. Without these exits, and in the face of renewed investment activity, there is a danger that defaults could again loom.

Yours sincerely,

Kimberly Romaine

Editor-in-chief, unquote"

Tel: +44 20 7004 7526

kimberly.romaine@incisivemedia.com.

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