Private equity update

The news just keeps on coming...

The most significant developments of the week include the announcement that the Treasury select committee will look into private equity. The remit of the committee, which is headed by Labour MP John McFall, does not seems to have been made clear yet. However it's worth noting that the committee played a very positive role in respect of the Government's plans for the new Personal Accounts system.

Also in Treasury-land Ed Balls has announced a review of the tax treatment of debt. This is an interesting turn of events as in recent history Ed Balls seems to have been going out of his way not to frighten the City (which is understandable). Of course the review may lead nowhere, but the fact that it is going ahead suggests a recognition that serious concerns about private equity come from a range of interests, not just the unions.

Elsewhere The Guardian reports Ernst & Young's analysis of buyouts which suggests that there could be some major collapses ahead. And the bidders for Sainsbury's have been told to 'put up or shut up' by the Takeover Panel.