Doug is a great guy and smart as hell – I’ve actually met him. (Loves the Veal Parm at the Palm.)
At any rate he’s gone and done his 20 for 2010. Good reading if you’ve got a couple of minutes.
Notice #8…
And notice what I wrote back in May 2009:
Guess we’ll see how it all plays out in 365.
Back in February, I predicted PE would step in and begin to take banking assets private, in particular the bulge bracket firms. It’s starting although we’re not up to the bulge brackets yet… that’ll probably have to wait until 3Q09.
Buyout Firms Elude Fed as OTS Lets Private Equity Acquire Banks
After pulling the biggest fleecing on the world in at least a decade and now under significant Congressional scrutiny and shareholder proposals to finally limit compensation, the bulge bracket firms will all go private. KKR and the rest of the PE players are just waiting for the opportunity. It’s just a matter of re-pricing the debt, limiting exposure to CDO/CDSs, and of course, wiping out the current equity. Whatever legislative and tax hurdles exist that prevent private equity from owning these firms will be removed as well.
Not really that earth-shaking a realization actually.
