Private-equity firms looking to buy retail and consumer companies said they’re now able to finance deals and pay reasonable prices after the credit crisis and global recession triggered a buyout slump.
These folks are salivating over . . . what exactly? Consumer credit card debt is at an all-time high, so any increases in retail activity from more consumer indebtedness will be difficult to impossible to realize. Data on actual consumer behavior is mixed at best, with consumers both spending more on retail and worried more about their ability to sustain future spending.
Maybe the private equity folks weren't so smart after all. Maybe they were just adroit with leverage while the stock market bubble inflated in the last decade.
