As well, private equity firms continue to focus on transactions that either (1) monetize existing assets via dividends and sponsor-to-sponsor sales, (2) lowerfinancingcosts, or (3) extend maturities.
In addition to having ready access to equity capital, these companies are taking advantage of the friendly financing environment to make buys and lower their borrowing costs as well.
The immediate, under-the-radar problem for the municipal bond market is that borrowers relied on banks to backstop their credits and lower short term funding costs when the credit crisis shut the door on auction rate preferred financing.
Advocates of a public option say government financing would save the most money by having leaner administrative costs and forcing doctors and hospitals to take lower payments than they get from private insurance.