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More closures and mergers among private equity firms are expected to happen this year as they encounter difficulty in raising capital. The result: Less employment opportunities for managers, says eFinancialCareers.

Citing a Private Equity News survey published by the Wall Street Journal, eFinancialCareers notes that 80% of 500 managers and firms surveyed expect more closures and mergers among PE firms this year. The firms are facing two challenges: Debt financing remains expensive, while institutional investors are reluctant to commit new cash. About two-thirds of the respondents say the impact of the financial crisis will be felt for "years" or that the PE market had changed "forever."

"The rules of the game have changed. The last few years have shown that the industry’s stratospheric growth was the result of capital markets hosing cheap debt into private equity," Gresham CEO Paul Marson-Smith told the Journal.

Not all is bad news. The Private Equity News' survey found optimism in the mid-market niche, for which 75% of respondents predicted they'd be more active this year than last.

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