The private equity sponsored Milken Global Institute ended last week. One participant described it as:
"There's money everywhere."
Another said:
“Lenders are back, the strategic bid is back and interest rates have stabilised. A lot of deals will get done this year.”
Some spoke of a new focus from Saudi Arabia and its neighbors:
...one of this year’s biggest changes was the arrival of a new wave of Middle Eastern investors. Rather than just looking for places to put their cash, they were seeking deals that would tie investment to promises to bring financial services jobs to the region.
Back home the economy remains strong and:
the Fed is ready to pivot and there is debt available to do deals.”Should the common person be encouraged by all this?
William & Mary Professor Peter Atwater offered:
"I feel like we are moments away from a Truman Show-like moment where we wake up in PE-owned homes that get their power from PE-owned utilities; drive on PE-owned highways to our PE-owned businesses; who offer benefits from PE-owned insurers at PE-owned hospitals and dentists..."
The Federal Trade Commission extended public comment on "consolidation in healthcare," much of it driven by private equity underwriters (PEU). The May 6th closing date, ironically the first day of Milken, got pushed back to June 5th. So far 854 comments specifically mention private equity.
People inside healthcare have awoken to the damage done by private equity. The problem is politicians Red and Blue love PEU and increasingly, more are one.
