Private equity’s hit list – which sectors are on it?

Suddenly, it seems private equity offers are everywhere: for clothing and homewares group Pacific Brands and diversified services company Spotless Group.

Retailers, pubs and marinas are among the downtrodden areas being sought by private equity, with former investment banker Mark Carnegie working with solicitor Andrew Robinson to buy into the distressed marina market.

“We think there could be something like a few hundred million dollars’ worth of marinas in trouble, up and down the coast. It’s a sector that is far worse than pubs,” Carnegie told The Australian last month.

Tim Wilson, managing director of Blue Sky Private Equity, says the small- and medium-sized enterprise-focused Blue Sky continues to see a “whole stream of opportunities”.

“Mining services, rail infrastructures – these are in a space that will continue to do well irrespective of what’s going on in the world.”

Wilson says now is a good time for acquisitions, given depressed asking prices and the cashed-up positions of some funds.

“There haven’t been the headline-grabbing investments made by private equity in Australia for a couple of years, but there’s still the cash to spend.”

“Taking the long-term view, it’s not a bad time to be doing it.”

Wilson adds that although it was only a couple of years ago that people were questioning the future of billion-dollar buyouts, a key message he picked up at a Harvard private equity course over the break was the Yale Endowment Fund regretted not going on a bigger PE spending spree during the global financial crisis.

Blue Sky closed its initial public offering on December 7, and plans to list on the sharemarket on January 24.

Australian Retailers Association executive director Russell Zimmerman says he’s not heard of any further PE plays in the works for retailers, but notes expectations that more will follow through 2012.