There’s No Easy Exit for Companies Backed by PE and VC

The true value of private equity- and venture capital-owned companies — a source of much debate — can be hard for outsiders to know. But Verdad Advisers’ founder Dan Rasmussen and senior analyst Chris Satterthwaite have figured a way to peek behind the curtain — and what they’ve found is not pretty.

“The clock is ticking” for private equity, Rasmussen told Institutional Investor. “The margin picture was bad and has gotten worse, the debt picture was bad and has gotten a lot worse, and the valuation picture was bad and has gotten a lot worse.” Combined, it’s “pretty scary,” he said. READ MORE