The firm, which is located in New York, heads the stellar list of highly active private equity organisations and has processed transactions valued at more than $20 billion in the past month,

according to the latest figures released by Bloomberg.

 

The firm's chairman, Stephen Schwarzman, announced that Blackstone Group LP had acquired a further $15.9 billion of assets this month, which included the acquisition of Centro Property

Group's American shopping-mall assets, bought for $9 billion last month.

 

Coming a close second, with over $14.2 billion of private equity transactions, is Avista Capital Partners LLC, another firm based in New York and a successor to the DLJ Merchant Banking group.
The other top three are Credit Suisse Group AG (located in Zurich), Nordic Capital AB (based in Stockholm) and EQT Partners AB (also located in Stockholm). Of these three, he largest player

in private equity transactions was Nordic Capital, at $14.1 billion.

 

However, deals have been scarce recently due to volatile equity situations and the ongoing economic uncertainty  which have affected the debt markets. In fact, in September the level of

transactions had dropped to $8.2 billion from $29 billion in August.

 

Bloomberg also identified Kleiner Perkins Caulfield and Byers as topping the list of busiest venture capitalists. The California-based firm has invested over $2.5 billion in forty-six companies,

including the famous Groupon Inc. It is followed by Russia's Digital Sky Technologies, which provided $2.26 billion for six business ventures.

E-commerce and the internet continue to attract the bulk of venture capital, at $32 billion, with companies on this year's list including Twitter Inc, Facebook Inc and 360buy.com

How Do These Private Equity Firms Work?

Firms which work in private equity usually use high-value loans secured against acquisition targets to finance over 50pc of the purchase cost. They use their own funds to finance the rest. These firms will then seek to improve the acquisition's business performance or further expand them, with a view to selling and making a profit within five years. Venture-capital firms will usually invest in start-ups, as they offer better prospects for rapid growth, as well as companies which lack the easy access to primary capital markets that they need to fuel their expansion.

 

 

Written by Ross Stokes of Circle Square Talent - Financial Jobs London

 

If you're not sure which Private Equity career move would best suit your skills and experience take a look at our Job Profiles. The profiles provide advice on the qualifications, skills and experience required

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