Deals
Wary Private Equity With $2 Trillion War Chest Sits Out Carnage
- Deal activity has stopped as firms weigh damage from pandemic
- Debt shops said to buy senior secured loans, second mortgages
Photographer: John Taggart/Bloomberg
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U.S. private equity firms hold about $2 trillion in cash, a useful position amid the current market carnage. But, for now, very few are putting that money to work.
Deal activity has ground to a halt and discussions with businesses hit by the panic around the coronavirus pandemic are evaporating, according to people with knowledge of the matter. Recently, an arm of Brookfield Property Partners LP pulled out of financing Mirae Asset Global Investments Co.’s acquisition of a $5.8 billion U.S. luxury hotel portfolio.