Private equity firms are prolonging the shelf lives of their aging assets with deals that are proving increasingly popular with managers, but not with all investors. Firms under pressure to offload assets from their expiring funds are opting to repackage them into new vehicles as the pandemic curbs the usual exit routes via sales or initial public offerings. This once obscure corner of the private equity industry has grabbed Wall Street’s attention, with the likes of Goldman Sachs Group Inc....

Private equity-owned companies are again raising debt to pay their owners dividends, just as warnings sound about saddling businesses with more leverage in the midst of a downturn. This month Baltic telecommunication firm Bite and U.S.-based Epicor Software Corp. have both turned to the leveraged debt market for deals that will pave the way for so-called dividend recapitalizations, where private equity firms have a portfolio company borrow more in order to return money to their...

View photos Firms announced $143 billion of deals outside the U.S. in the first half, or almost 60% of the world total, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. That’s on track for the highest full-year proportion in almost two decades. And for the first time since 2003, no U.S. targets were among the five largest deals. As the U.S. grapples with a pandemic that’s still infecting thousands by the day, private equity firms are taking longer to do business, with dealmakers unable to meet in...

(Bloomberg) -- The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority is delaying the sale of $2 billion in private-equity fund stakes after the outbreak of the deadly coronavirus. The sovereign wealth fund, which is estimated to have about $580 billion under management, was in talks with several investors including money manager Ardian about selling chunks of the portfolio, according to people familiar with the discussions. The market turmoil triggered by the crisis made it difficult for them to agree on how...

Photographer: Matt Dunham/AP Images Sign up here for our daily coronavirus newsletter on what you need to know, and subscribe to our Covid-19 podcast for the latest news and analysis. Private equity-backed firms will be able to access the U.K. government’s emergency loan scheme and borrow up to 50 million pounds ($62 million) in state-guaranteed debt. U.K. Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak widened one of the government’s coronavirus business aid programs on Thursday to cover all...