TPG says changes deals, industries amid credit crunch
June 4th, 2008 | by admin |By Megan Davies
BOCA RATON, Florida (Reuters) - TPG, a private equity firm with more than $30 billion capital under management, said on Wednesday it was adapting amid the credit crunch, to doing deals not so reliant on leverage and rotating the industries it concentrates on.
James Coulter, founding partner at TPG, told investors at the SuperReturn conference in Florida, that it is harder work putting deals together in tough times, but still possible.
“In good times we do diligence, in bad times we do diligence, diligence, diligence,” Coulter said.
He cautioned to “be prepared … it will get worse even though we hope it will get better.”
Coulter said it was important to think about leverage differently in this environment, and said the No. 1 question he got from the pension funds and other investors that put money into private equity funds, was what he was doing if there’s no leverage available.
“My answer is I’d much rather buy a company for a lower price with less leverage … It’s a bit like tickets for a sold-out concert … if you go out on the street and work it and pay a little more, you’ll get the tickets. Leverage is available, it’s just in different sources.”
TPG has rotated the types of deals it is doing and the industries it invests in as cheap debt dried up, he said, likening it to seasonal crop rotation.
From doing large, leveraged buyouts, TPG is now doing “off- the-beaten-path investments”.
