Private equity firms sit on piles of cash as asset prices jump

London

WITH plenty of money and a scarcity of deals, private equity firms' cash piles are the highest they've been since the depths of the financial crisis.

Then there is increasing competition from newly flush Chinese and pension fund bidders. Add to that low interest rates which lower borrowing costs and investors who want the funds they helped raise deployed. The combination makes the few assets in the market like chum in the water.