What is private equity's current strategy for extracting cash?

Private equity firms are raising debt from their portfolio companies to fund payouts to themselves and their investors.

How much money have private equity firms taken out via dividend loans this year?

As of November 23, 2025, dividend loans have reached $28.7 billion this year.

Are dividend loans from private equity firms a new trend?

While dividend loans are an established practice, their current scale is unprecedented, nearing or surpassing previous records.

Home / Business and Economy / Private Equity's Cash Grab: Record Debt-Funded Payouts

Private Equity's Cash Grab: Record Debt-Funded Payouts

23 Nov

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Summary

Private equity firms are raising debt for payouts to themselves.
Dividend loans reached $28.7 billion this year so far.
This trend is set to surpass the 2021 record of $28.8 billion.

Private Equity's Cash Grab: Record Debt-Funded Payouts

Private equity firms facing challenges in selling their investments are increasingly using debt to secure cash.

Financial sponsors are taking out significant debt from their portfolio companies to fund distributions to themselves and their investors. This practice has resulted in dividend loans totaling $28.7 billion year-to-date.

This substantial figure places the current year on track to exceed the previous record of $28.8 billion set in 2021, highlighting an unprecedented reliance on debt-funded payouts in the current market.

Disclaimer: This story has been auto-aggregated and auto-summarised by a computer program. This story has not been edited or created by the Feedzop team.