Want to understand private equity?...this article is not a bad place to start. Why private equity firms matter explains how the recent spate of high profile approaches by private equity firms to quoted companies means that the private equity industry is firmly in the spotlight.
Since the start of the year, we have seen bid approaches for VNU, Kesa, TDC, Vodafone Japan, House of Fraser, HMV, ITV and Associated British Ports, to name just a few.
It is 25 years since private equity started to make its mark in Britain - an idea imported from the US. In that time, private equity has been instrumental in altering the way in which companies "do business".
Today our industry buys one in three companies sold - and the companies we own employ one in five people outside the public sector.
What we do is very simple. We see our role as empowering business leaders as they seek to make change.
