The rich folks at Goldman Sachs
Keep in mind that most buyout deals include a lot of debt. Assuming a 5-to-1 leverage ratio, Goldman has the firepower to spend $100 billion -- roughly the GDP of New Zealand, for comparison. (Not to be outdone by Goldman, it seems the Blackstone Group will raise its own $20 billion fund as well.)
Historically, the largest private equity buyout deals, including the purchases of TXU
With the emergence of megafunds like Goldman's, however, don't assume that $50 billion barrier will necessarily stand for long.
What companies should Goldman splurge billions on? Let me know on my CAPS blog.
Further Foolishness? Capital idea:
- Foolish Forum: Private Equity Fever
- Goldman: Into the Private Equity Stratosphere
- TXU: A Very Green Deal
- Golden Days for Goldman Sachs
TXU is a former Motley Fool Income Investor pick.
Fool contributor Tom Taulli, author of The Complete M&A Handbook, does not own shares mentioned in this article. He is currently ranked 3,449 out of 27,827 in CAPS.