Many of the bit players are being flushed out of private equity by the tight credit market, and Fidelity Investments, which will close its private equity division next month, is no exception. While buyouts have never been a significant part of the company's business, the firm was managing $500 million as part of an operation that was founded two years ago -- at or near the height of the private equity boom.
Fidelity's private equity arm has investments in four companies, but spokeswoman Ann Crowley told The Wall Street Journal (subscription required) that "Basically debt financing is largely unavailable because of the economic conditions of the last several months."
Investors have long coveted hot initial public offerings. But access to the biggest IPOs usually requires big money and insider connections. However, a deal between 