At ACG Intergrowth last week I spent a fair amount of time talking with private equity deal guys (and one gal…another topic) about the current market. The clearest trend everyone could agree on, and one that nobody was particularly excited about, was the increase in company valuation multiples over the last 12 to 18 months….

While much of the publicity surrounding private equity centers on mega-deals, the middle market actually accounts for more than 70% of all PE buyouts and 66% of the capital invested in PE transactions. It is far-and-away the largest segment of the private equity deal-making environment and a safe bet that when the middle market is…