Take that exit

When investors look for an exit they don’t want to be shown the door. They want to see the cash consideration that rewards them for their risk – and they want to look good in the process; good for having created employment, good for respecting the environment, good for having contributed to economic growth, and good in terms of delivering corporate citizenship. This attitudinal evolution is welcome news for one particular branch of the investor community: private equity professionals. Where 1980s-style incarnations of the private equity (PE) investment model were popularly depicted as slash-and-sell raiders, the PE funds of today can instead flash constructive partnerships and growth narratives of invested companies as their merit badges. This is worth pondering when the latest reports on private equity in the Middle East and North Africa show glorious numbers about recent performances in fundraising, investments, and divestments – colloquially dubbed ‘exits’ – of