Since joining a private equity firm a long, long time ago (but not, alas, in a galaxy far, far away), I have developed a fairly poor opinion of the efficacy of consultants, particularly in the area of predictions.1I am also skeptical of their strategy and policy recommendations. Yet, I do admit that they can do good work in collecting and summarizing data, which can be very useful when trying to understand what is going on in a particular region.…

Now, I should emphasize that my familiarity with venture capital is somewhat less extensive than my familiarity with private equity, infrastructure and real estate. I have some familiarity with it, having followed the sector in the trade publications and by speaking with local venture capitalists, but it was not an…

At the behest of a friend, I’m setting out a number of observations about the private equity deals that occurred in 2014. Being January 29, 2015 when I finished writing this post, it is a little late, but I prefer to be as thorough as I can be…

First, we can see from Table 1 below a general increase—admittedly with year-to-year fluctuations—in the number of private…

So, what can we do? (Other than decide to abandon the Chinese market, a decision that seems analogous to a physician cutting off an arm to cure a hangnail.) The short answer: Become better at due diligence. It is by no means a sovereign remedy for all the things that…

First, let’s look at the private equity fundraising landscape in Asia. A number of well-known private equity firms raised successor funds, including CVC Capital Partners, The Carlyle Group, TPG Capital and Affinity Equity Partners. The success of these well-known sponsors follows the immense $6 billion Asian Fund II raised by Kolhberg, Kravis Roberts & Co.…