Middle-market firms still optimistic.(PRIVATE EQUITY)(Mason Wells inc.)

Financial Executive, April, 2008 by Marshall, Jeffrey

All private equity firms are not equal, and the pall that has come over the "megadeal" end of the market since the sub-prime market meltdown is much less evident at smaller shops.

Bill Krugler, managing director of Mason Wells in Milwaukee, says his firm has "kept chugging along" and never fell afoul of the seizures in the collateralized loan obligation (CLO) market, which has pummeled debt from some of the largest transactions and caused a number to fall apart.

In recent months, "our prices were up, but they were much more rational and reasonable" than those witnessed at the high end of the market, Krugler says. "We continue to see deals and do deals. The pricing of that debt has gone up, and the amount of leverage is down," but his firm expects to...

Read the rest of this article with a Free Trial at HighBeam Research.

Premium Content Partnership | HighBeam Research provides an in-depth online archive library of reference works.