buyouts

also referred to as: buyout

26 statements across 18 episodes · 4 bullish · 8 bearish · 17 people on the record · first statement May 28, 2018 by John Pfeffer · across every show →

Everything said about buyouts, oldest first

May 28, 2018 bearish
Opinion
Pfeffer argues venture capital on average underperforms buyouts or loses money.
“So I figure that, I think that probably the asset class is somewhere between, on average, money losing to simply underperforming relative to, say, buyouts or whatever, as an asset class.”
John Pfeffer May 28, 2018 ▶ 17:29 John Pfeffer - Crypto for Institutions (Capital Allocators, EP.54)
Sep 24, 2018 negative
Disclosure
Future Fund Avoids Large-Cap Buyouts Entirely in Private Equity Portfolio
“Our portfolio has no large buyout at all, because we think that, well, that makes the capacity so much harder, by the way, but we think that large buyout is really just levered equities, typically. And if there's skill added on top, and there might be, then mo…”
Raphael Arndt Sep 24, 2018 ▶ 42:29 Raphael Arndt – Australia's Sovereign Wealth Fund CIO (Capital Allocators, Episode 70)
Mar 23, 2020 positive
Insight
Mauboussin: PE lockups protect investors from panic-selling at bad prices
“In some ways, I think that one of the advantages of private equity for, I will speak specifically to buyouts, Is that investors can't pull their money out of these things. And as a consequence, they don't see the volatility. They have no chance to transact at …”
Michael Mauboussin Mar 23, 2020 ▶ 18:44 Michael Mauboussin – Consilient Observations in a Crisis (Capital Allocators, EP.127)
Apr 9, 2020 bullish
Prediction Not checkable as stated
Nelson: Allocator interest in distressed credit and secondaries will grow
“So the stress credit opportunity funds, secondaries down the line, I think that there's budding interest going to be growing interest. In those areas as we go forward, but relative impact and weight within member portfolios, traditional buyouts is where the fo…”
Steve Nelson Apr 9, 2020 ▶ 23:30 Steve Nelson – Assisting Private Equity Allocators Through Turbulent Times at ILPA (Capital Allocators, EP.129)
Jul 12, 2021 neutral
Insight
Rubenstein: 90% of buyouts succeed, while historically 90% of VC deals failed
“But I would say 90% of the times buyouts will work. Venture capital, which we were not really in, probably 90% of those deals didn't work.”
David Rubenstein Jul 12, 2021 ▶ 19:50 Private Equity Masters 4: David Rubenstein – Carlyle Group (Capital Allocators, EP.203)
Aug 30, 2021 neutral
Insight
Manager advantages vary significantly across venture, buyout, and hedge funds
“So in venture, the advantages might be around personal brand, firm brand. On the buyout side, it might be really around their ability to add value post-close. And on the long only or hedge fund side, it might look, it might be much more around their approach t…”
Jenny Heller Aug 30, 2021 ▶ 35:55 Jennifer Heller – Beginner's Mind with Professional Wisdom at Brandywine (Capital Allocators, EP.211)
Sep 27, 2021 bearish
Disclosure
Whalen: Firm avoids buyouts due to insane valuations and leverage
“We're not doing a lot of buyouts right now because the valuations we think are insane and the leverage multiples are really high.”
Casey Whalen Sep 27, 2021 ▶ 16:31 Friends Reunion – Five Allocators Riff on Investing (Capital Allocators, EP.215)
Dec 5, 2022 neutral
Assertion Supported
Khajuria: Many buyouts are being completed with little to no leverage
“And a lot of buyouts these days, as we found in the financial crisis, are being done with less leverage or in some cases no leverage.”
Sachin Khajuria Dec 5, 2022 ▶ 47:05 Sachin Khajuria – Two and Twenty, An Insider's Take on Private Equity (Capital Allocators, EP.285)
Apr 3, 2023
Disclosure
Joy: Church Commissioners holds 13% to 14% in private equity, split evenly between buyout and VC
“So we've been in private equity investing since the mid-nineteen nineties. It's roughly about 13 to 14% of our overall book, which is a sizable amount, but it's not nearly as big as some other investors have. I'm happy with that. It's roughly split equal betwe…”
Tom Joy Apr 3, 2023 ▶ 46:55 Tom Joy – Divine Diversification and Responsibility at Church Commissioners (Capital Allocators, EP.306)
Oct 30, 2023
Disclosure
Ou: GroveStreet buyout co-investments target 3-4x leverage at entry
“The capital structure dynamics is also, I would say, more consistent than different. They tend to be anywhere between three to four times in leverage and entry. So when we see a deal that's four and a half times or more, we tend to raise our eyebrows.”
Bruce Ou Oct 30, 2023 ▶ 41:01 Bruce Ou – Private Market Investing at GroveStreet (EP.347)
Oct 30, 2023 negative
Insight
Ou: High idiosyncratic risk makes venture co-investing revert to average returns
“We have not really done much in the venture side at all. It requires a very deliberate different strategy to do venture co-invest in our opinion. Idiosyncratic risk is far greater than buyouts, and therefore you have to approach it with a diversified enough of…”
Bruce Ou Oct 30, 2023 ▶ 41:44 Bruce Ou – Private Market Investing at GroveStreet (EP.347)
Oct 30, 2023 negative
Insight
Ou: Operationally intensive buyout teams use less initial leverage
“It is usually the case that an operational intensive team tends to use also less leverage at the beginning. So if we see a team that tends to use a higher leverage at the beginning, that is a bit of a warning signal to us, because if you are trying to really i…”
Bruce Ou Oct 30, 2023 ▶ 20:11 Bruce Ou – Private Market Investing at GroveStreet (EP.347)
Feb 19, 2024 positive
Insight
Mauboussin: Mandatory long lockups in VC and PE benefit investors
“And because venture and buyouts have essentially longer time horizons, whether people like it or not, they have to sit in their seats for a while. And that's actually, I think probably been to their benefit versus to their detriment.”
Michael Mauboussin Feb 19, 2024 ▶ 43:44 Michael Mauboussin - Pattern Recognition and Public Markets (EP.370)
Feb 19, 2024 neutral
Assertion Contradicted
Mauboussin: Sponsor-to-sponsor sales became the primary buyout exit mechanism
“Obviously the number one technique for buyouts to exit was selling to other buyout firms.”
Michael Mauboussin Feb 19, 2024 ▶ 43:11 Michael Mauboussin - Pattern Recognition and Public Markets (EP.370)
Feb 19, 2024
Assertion Supported
Mauboussin: Private equity buyouts represent 20% of public company delistings
“Since in the last 10 or 15 years, buyouts have been about 20% of delisting of public companies.”
Michael Mauboussin Feb 19, 2024 ▶ 30:52 Michael Mauboussin - Pattern Recognition and Public Markets (EP.370)
Apr 8, 2024 neutral
Assertion Supported
Buyout secondaries trade in the nineties while venture trades at 60-80 cents
“Good quality buyouts, probably in the nineties. Venture and growth, very much name specific. So some managers still very difficult to access. So you pay an access premium, but probably more like 60 to 80 cents on the dollar because there's a little bit of skep…”
Nigel Dawn Apr 8, 2024 ▶ 19:05 Nigel Dawn - Secondaries in Private Markets (EP.378)
Oct 7, 2024
Insight
Nesbitt: Manager selection drives returns in VC far more than beta
“In venture, you can make the right asset allocation decision, but if you can't get the best managers, or at least the top quartile managers, it's not going to matter. It's not going to deliver. That's most true in venture, maybe a little less so in buyout and …”
Steve Nesbitt Oct 7, 2024 ▶ 12:17 Stephen Nesbitt – Innovation in Private Markets for RIAs (EP.410)
Mar 24, 2025 bearish
Disclosure
Dietrich heavily targets special situations buyouts anticipating market distress
“Most recently, I'd say the last five or six years, We've been really leaning in on the special situation subsector within buyouts because we think there's going to be some challenges ahead and some shoes are going to fall.”
Ed Grefenstette Mar 24, 2025 ▶ 38:04 Ed Grefenstette – Bold Allocations at The Dietrich Foundation (EP.437)
Jun 23, 2025
Assertion Supported
MacArthur: Software is now the single biggest sector in private equity buyouts
“In the 19 nineties, if you said, hey, let's go get some software businesses and lever them up, and that'll be a great way to do a buyout, people would have laughed at you. That was not the buyout industry, and now it's the single biggest sector in all the buyo…”
Hugh MacArthur Jun 23, 2025 ▶ 53:01 Hugh MacArthur – Private Equity's Challenges and Opportunities (EP.453)
Jun 23, 2025 neutral
Assertion Supported
MacArthur: One trillion dollars in buyout dry powder remains uncalled
“There's still a trillion dollars of dry powder out there for buyouts, which means if the GP picks up the phone and says, I need your check, the LPs are writing the check, and yet they haven't seen much money back in the last four or five years.”
Hugh MacArthur Jun 23, 2025 ▶ 42:50 Hugh MacArthur – Private Equity's Challenges and Opportunities (EP.453)
Jun 23, 2025 neutral
Assertion Supported
MacArthur: Buyout returns over the past 14 years saw zero margin improvement
“If you look at the last 14 years of realized returns, Roughly speaking, 50% of the returns of buyouts have been due to revenue growth. 50% has been due to multiple expansion, largely owing to the low interest rate structure that we were talking about, and zero…”
Hugh MacArthur Jun 23, 2025 ▶ 49:02 Hugh MacArthur – Private Equity's Challenges and Opportunities (EP.453)
Jul 14, 2025 bearish
Insight
Sullivan: Scaling buyout funds suffer Peter Principle as target companies grow
“The challenge along the way is that sometimes the skill set that works with the small company is not Applicable to the bigger company. Also, bigger companies tend to be better managed, so maybe there's less you can do with them while you own them. There is a P…”
Tim Sullivan Jul 14, 2025 ▶ 38:10 Tim Sullivan – Yale's Private Portfolio (EP.456)
Jul 14, 2025 bearish
Prediction Not checkable as stated
Sullivan: Private equity will struggle to drive alpha like the past 40 years
“It's going to be very difficult for private equity, broadly defined venture and buyout and related stuff to be the single defining alpha creating strategy for institutional investors the way that it's been over the last 3540 years.”
Tim Sullivan Jul 14, 2025 ▶ 54:12 Tim Sullivan – Yale's Private Portfolio (EP.456)
Nov 10, 2025 neutral
Insight
Ripley: Buyout investing is fundamentally an apprenticeship business with high barriers
“A buyout is an apprenticeship business, fundamentally. You can't walk in off the street with no credibility or history and complete buyout deals, generally speaking, because you've got to get an investment banker to show you a deal. You've got to get a commerc…”
Jay Ripley Nov 10, 2025 ▶ 18:03 Jay Ripley – Emerging Manager Selection at GEM (EP.470)
Nov 10, 2025 neutral
Disclosure
Ripley: GEM allocates roughly 60% to buyouts and 40% to venture
“In most portfolios for our clients, we're 60% buyout, 40% venture, roughly speaking.”
Jay Ripley Nov 10, 2025 ▶ 44:37 Jay Ripley – Emerging Manager Selection at GEM (EP.470)
Jun 22, 2026 bullish
Disclosure
Williams College recently raised allocation targets for buyouts and venture capital
“One of the things that we did do over the last few years was increase our target to buyouts and venture.”
Abigail Wattley Jun 22, 2026 ▶ 32:04 Homegrown CIO at Williams College - Abigail Wattley (EP.507)
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