In 2007, the company was acquired in private equity buyout led by Nautic Partners.

The value of private equity buyouts decreased by a third last year to £12.1bn, as the market saw significantly fewer large deals.

Whatever deal emerges will most likely be the largest private equity buyout ever, with a sale price in the $40 billion range.

But he obliquely challenged fears one union leader expressed about a private equity buyout of Chrysler.

In 2009 Puget Sound Energy was sold to foreign investors, Macquarie Group, in a leveraged private equity buyout.

With 8,260 stores and sagging profits, analysts have said that the retailer would benefit from the type of consolidations that are common after a private equity buyout.

Rumors of a private equity buyout of Dollar General have been circulating for months.

Later that year he criticised the accountancy profession for a loss of integrity in due diligence work on private equity buyouts.

The CMBOR reported that, with the exception of 2009, the value of private equity buyouts had not been this low since 1997.

It is the biggest leveraged private equity buyout ever.