Market At A Glance

U.S. buyout pros continue to close deals at a good clip and are now only $2.3 billion away from another record-breaking year in terms of disclosed deal volume. Two large public-to-private deals—the $6 billion buyout of craft-supply retailer Michaels Stores Inc. by Bain Capital and The Blackstone Group, and the $2.8 billion delisting of Canadian resort operator Intrawest Corp. by Fortress Investment Group—helped to notch up the deal volume total another $9.05 billion since Buyouts last went to press.

Meanwhile, Boston-based TA Associates deserves mention for its recent flurry of activity that includes the $130 million leveraged recap of outpatient healthcare provider American Access Care, an investment in wireless communications provider Idea Cellular Ltd., and a $195 million (€153 million) LBO of travel company eDreams.

The disclosed deal volume total now stands at a towering $195.68 billion.

This week’s fundraising total jumped up to $154.9 billion from last week because we are at last including the full $15.2 billion that Texas Pacific Group has raised for its fifth fund, a result widely reported. Otherwise, the biggest news from the week was the leak that The Blackstone Group had sent a letter to LPs that it wants to add a few more billion to its largest-fund-ever-$15.6-billion fifth fund. Meanwhile, it was a big few weeks for real estate: Warburg Pincus has closed its first dedicated real estate fund with $1.2 billion in capital commitments, and Legacy Partners has closed its second real estate private equity fund with $457.