If the stock market goes up--thus narrowing the Fisher Spread--the private equity firm can take its companies public.

FORBES: Dow at 18,000 Anyone?

He led a management buyout of the firm in 1989, only to take the company public again three years later.

FORBES: Thomas Frist, Jr. & family

After having interviewed one investment bank to take it public, it selected another and offered the first firm a co-manager position.

FORBES: Financial Analysts: Writing Research That Benefits Their Employers and Themselves (August 1, 2001)