A quiet kind of buyout boom

August 12 - Atlanta Journal Constitution - Phil Greifeld, CEO of Huddle House, remembers years of calls inquiring if his business was for sale.

It wasn't. But as buyouts flourished in 2006, Huddle House executives and directors reconsidered. Around Christmas, they sold a controlling interest to Allied Capital, a private equity firm in Washington, for $124 million.

Thanks to the flow of money into private equity — in other words, outside of public markets like the New York Stock Exchange or NASDAQ — companies around the Southeast have found willing buyers. Firms that specialize in the niche have prospered, too, because of the relative ease of raising or borrowing money.

Nationally, such deals have gotten much attention, such as the recent one that transformed Chrysler into a private company. The growing troubles in the sector are prominent, too, as the markets try to absorb the massive amount of debt needed to finance major transactions. Read More.