I'm sure they will be the pension funds.
The growing backlog is a challenge for private equity’s core business model. Typically, such firms aim to buy a company, often add large amounts of debt to its balance sheet, improve its financial performance and then sell it for a profit, usually within five to seven years.
The state of limbo has been difficult for large investors like pension funds and endowments that have spent decades paying steep fees to private equity firms promising market-beating returns. Some investors and industry professionals are worried that the firms won’t be able to sell companies without taking big losses.
“Private equity is stuck because those companies have failed to fulfill their value promise,” said Andrew Milgram, a managing partner and chief investment officer at Marblegate Asset Management, an investment firm.
Pretty sure the model is more: load up debt to buy companies, loot those companies to pay executives lots of money, and then let those companies go bankrupt, but I guess some people gotta believe.