Private Equity Politics.

Lula's in love.

1. Obese adults in Britain will outnumber those who are a healthy weight within five years without “drastic government action”, a report has warned. If trends continue then the country will reach a tipping point in 2027, when one third of adults will be obese, more than the number in the healthy weight range. By 2040 nearly four in ten adults in the UK — 21 million — are projected to be obese, with 19 million classed as overweight. More than 70 per cent of the population will be either overweight or obese. The crisis costs NHS England alone more than £6 billion a year. (Source: thetimes.co.uk)

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2. The top antitrust enforcer in the US has warned the Department of Justice will take a tougher stance on private equity firms rolling up swaths of the American economy as it targets buyout groups that have largely skirted the watchdog’s scrutiny. “Sometimes [the motive of a private equity firm is] designed to hollow out or roll up an industry and essentially cash out,” Jonathan Kanter, the head of the DoJ’s antitrust unit said in an interview with the Financial Times. “That business model is often very much at odds with the law, and very much at odds with the competition we’re trying to protect.” Kanter, who joined the DoJ in November, said buyout groups were “an extremely important part of our enforcement program” and that a fuller assessment of their deals was “top of mind for me, and . . . for the team”. His decision to target the sector comes as buyout firms such as Blackstone, KKR and Apollo have grown to become diversified conglomerates controlling vast chunks of the US economy, ranging from retail chains to hospitals and data centers. Private equity groups, which are sitting on trillions of dollars amassed from their investors, announced a record 14,730 deals last year globally worth $1.2 trillion, nearly double the previous high set in 2007, according to Refinitiv data. (Source: ft.com)

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3. Consumers with low credit scores are falling behind on payments for car loans, personal loans and credit cards, a sign that the healthiest consumer lending environment on record in the U.S. is coming to an end. The share of subprime credit cards and personal loans that are at least 60 days late is rising faster than normal, according to credit-reporting firm Equifax Inc. In March, those delinquencies rose month over month for the eighth time in a row, nearing their pre-pandemic levels. Delinquencies on subprime car loans and leases hit an all-time high in February, based on Equifax’s tracking that goes back to 2007. (Source: wsj.com)