The private equity industry has been through the worst, but now it seems the situation is taking a turn for the better. Stephen Schwarzman, CEO of Blackstone (NYSE: BX) expects deal flow and IPOs to bounce, saying the economy is showing "more than green shoots" of recovery.
Schwarzman, speaking at the Super Return Middle East conference in Dubai, doesn't expect another slip into recession, but the full recovery will take time, for all the same reasons you've been reading on BloggingStocks for a while: tighter lending standards; uncooperative consumers who won't spend beyond their means and so on.
Schwarzman is willing to do his part to aide the recovery. He says the company can do transactions in the $3 billion to $4 billion range. In fact, with low amounts of leverage, Blackstone can complete deals greater than $1 billion.
Since the market is improving, Blackstone is ready for its strategy to exit some investments, with five sales of its own -- four complete and one upcoming. If all five are finished, the company will pull in $2.8 million in funds, Schwarzman said. This is a pretty solid result, especially since the sales occurred at 140% to 240% of year-end 2008 values. But there's no indication of the sale prices relative to pre-financial crisis values.
The company is also checking out the scene for up to seven IPOs in addition to one that's already been filed. Schwarzman isn't sure "how long the window will be open for IPOs" and says the market traditionally has been "streaky."
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