The kids are all right

The search for auspiciousness

Private equity firms scout for quality, reliability and smooth regulatory sailing in their China investments.

Be true to your school

As the economy swoons, for-profit education sizzles. There has been a string of deals in post-secondary education. Expect consolidation to continue.

Waiting to exhale

Middle-market M&A has come back from the abyss, but any sustained rebound depends on the banks.

What the sponsors saw

PE investors had to get creative during the worst of the credit crunch, but take-privates and IPOs have picked up.

Where have all the lenders gone?

Hobbled by the financial crisis, banks and nonbanks alike have all pulled back from funding middle-market deals. Here's a look at who might fill the void.

Back channels

Steven Burrill lends his peripatetic presence to unusual cross-border deals in biotech.

Coyote ugly

Jim Balsillie made a mess of trying to use the Bankruptcy Code to move Phoenix's hockey team to Hamilton, Ontario. But in the end, there's one less deep-pocketed sports nut out there to save a wilting franchise.

The new super-regionals

With the biggest banks busily digesting massive acquisitions and bumping up against deposit caps, midtier acquirers are gobbling up FDIC-seized banks. Haven't we seen this before?

Buyout blackball?

As the crisis unfolded, private equity rushed to buy battered banks, only to discover this was one club they had difficulty getting into.

Too big to flail

The banks are too big; the banks shouldn't gamble. There are many helpful hints about how they should be broken up and their activities curtailed, but so far, Washington's response seems to be 'subsidize, and muddle through.'

In search of IPOs

A surge of PE-backed offerings in September buoyed hopes that a once-vibrant market was on its way back. But fundamental changes have made the prospects, particularly for venture startups, still uncertain.