Let the good times roll, again, hopefully

Stefan Meister, the Chairman of $142m Swiss private investment firm Partners Group, is predicting that private equity dealmaking will return to record levels in the next year or so, according to a report by Bloomberg.

Speaking in an interview on Bloomberg TV, Meister said: “There’s a good chance we’ll see record levels of transactions again in a few quarters time, and actually exceeding that.”

Meister, who was speaking from the IPEM private markets conference in Paris, remains optimistic despite the current depressed level of deal activity with the higher cost of borrowing negatively impacting leveraged buyouts.

And Messier also believes that the current challenging fundraising environment could be alleviated by lowering the barriers of entry for retail investors.

“That requires new products that look a little bit more like mutual funds,” he said.