献给同样对PE感兴趣的童鞋，英文原版
最近写这方面论文时候用到的，觉得不错


Is private equity in the public interest?

Introduction

The rise of private equity over the last decade has been nothing less than a revolution. And like all revolutions, it has provoked furious debate as to what it all means. A few facts everybody can agree on: that over the last few years, the top private equity funds have delivered spectacular returns to investors, that these returns have enabled buyout firms to raise ever-larger funds, and that these huge funds have allowed buyout groups to chase even larger targets. As a result, private equity now employs a quarter of UK private sector workers. And this year has seen private equity bids for two FTSE 100 companies, J. Sainsbury and Boots, with plenty of others cited as potential targets.

But then the questions begin. How has this success been achieved? How much is due to asset-stripping? How much to cutting jobs and slashing employee pay and benefits? How much to piling onto companies reckless quantities of debt? Or indeed, to clever tax loopholes? And how much is due to lucky timing, thanks to the huge rise in the stock market following the stock market crash? And how much is due to skill, to spotting undervalued and underperforming companies, to success in turning around struggling companies around and providing a structure that allows companies to grow? Will private equity’s success prove a flash in the pan? Or are we witnessing a permanent revolution? Should policy- makers be worried?

These arguments aren’t just taking place between trade unions and bosses, between regulators and bankers, between academics and practitioners. They rage within the City and on Wall Street too. Nobody knows for sure where this revolution will lead. Perhaps, like the French revolution, it is still too soon to tell. But breakingviews.com aims to be at the forefront of the debate, analysing deals, examining company and fund performance, probing the sources of the industry’s returns and investigating the claims of private equity’s opponents. This selection of recent articles, covers a range of different topics and contains a variety of points of view. We don’t claim to have all the answers, but we hope they will help you make up your own mind.

By Simon Nixon, Executive Editor