"I think about private equity in 10-year chunks," Delbridge commented. "A lot has happened in both private equity and venture capital in the last 10 years. Look at venture capital: We've seen the greatest creation of value and the largest loss of value ever, but if you were with the right managers, you made a lot of money. We've seen something similar with buyouts, but hopefully this cycle won't end with the greatest loss of value."
"We're in a cycle, no doubt about it," he continued. "But that creates opportunities, and there are groups that are going to take advantage of those opportunities. Private equity is very patient capital; general partners don't have to deploy their capital now; they can wait till next year when the environment is better."
Delbridge feels that "if you're going to do private equity, you have to believe in the private equity business -- that's not just blind faith either. This industry is subject to cyclicality. There's going to be great times to invest and great times to divest, and usually the two don't occur at the same time. The forces that make its a good time to divest are the same that make it less attractive to invest."
Speaking about the recent friction between Wall Street and buyout shops over issues like financing terms for LBOs Delbridge thinks that "these guys [the banks] are going to be back. Private equity is a $1 trillion to $2 trillion industry. They're going to jump back in soon as they can, same thing with venture." -
George White
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