Matt Levine’s Money Stuff: Everyone Wants Debt, Not Equity

Dividend recaps

Two stylized facts about contemporary financial markets are:

1. Private equity funds are having a hard time selling companies. The markets for mergers and for initial public offerings are choppy, and it is harder than usual to bring private equity portfolio companies back to the public markets. A private equity fund is supposed to hold a company for a limited period, then sell it and return cash to its investors; now, though, it is harder than usual to sell the companies, and the investors are anxious to get their money back. Private equity owners have been reduced to selling portfolio companies ...