Private Equity Outlook from Industry Titans

The U.S. private equity business had a big year in 2015, recording the highest dollar volume of company buyout deals since 2007 -- $139 billion nationwide, according to Dealogic. But dealmakers once again found themselves squeezed by deep-pocketed corporate buyers seeking growth via takeovers. The result: Private equity buyouts accounted for just 6 percent of total U.S. takeover activity last year, down from 14 percent in 2013. The numbers suggest that private equity firms are angling in a shrinking pool of good buyout candidates. That's raising questions about the industry's ability to maintain its high historical returns from engineering buyouts and restructuring the companies for later sale. This panel of P-E titans will address some of the major challenges facing the industry as well as the opportunities. Is competition driving industry stalwarts to compete in different asset arenas? What are the key elements of successful deals, and how are they changing? Are holding periods for company investments getting longer or shorter, and is there room for investments to be held into perpetuity? 

Moderator
Andrea Kramer, Managing Director, Hamilton Lane

Speakers
Leon Black, Chairman, CEO and Director, Apollo Global Management
Jonathan Nelson, Founder and CEO, Providence Equity Partners
David Rubenstein, Co-Founder and Co-CEO, The Carlyle Group
Robert Smith, Founder, Chairman and CEO, Vista Equity Partners; Founding Director and President, Fund II Foundation