, Columnists
Private Equity: Let's Get Flexible
Small and creative purchases could fuel another record year.
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Blockbuster buyouts are few and far between these days, but there are other ways to stay busy.
Private equity firms announced more than 2,000 takeovers in 2016, edging just past the number of transactions seen during the previous peak in 2007, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Research firm Preqin uses a broader definition and estimates private equity-backed buyouts likely surpassed 4,000 last year. Few of these transactions were particularly large. Rather, last year's record indicates a determination to put cash to work -- high valuations and competition be damned -- by using different deal structures and pursuing smaller targets.