The leveraged buyout market rose to prominence in the late 1980s when private equity firms such as Kohlberg Kravis & Roberts ("KKR") and Fortsmann Little were consistently making headlines with large buyouts including the largest leveraged buyout ever, KKR's $25 billion buyout of RJR Nabisco in 1988. The success of these financial sponsors (i.e., private equity firms) and others in completing transactions and earning favorable returns attracted many other parties to the industry. There are currently hundreds of financial sponsors focused on buying companies of all sizes across many industries.

With an estimated $120 billion in uninvested capital, hundreds of financial sponsors, and a difficult M&A environment, private equity firms currently face a challenging environment.