This is in stark contrast to the continued housing equity withdrawal between 1997 and the first quarter of 2008, including a substantial £13.7bn withdrawn in the fourth quarter of 2006.
The casino chain Harrah's Entertainment, which is owned by private equity firms, withdrew its offering in November, which analyst suggested had to do with its heavy debt load.
This week the sale of a British retailer fell into confusion, after two private-equity bidders withdrew.
"The pressure on management to waste cash flow through organisational slack or investment in unsound projects is often irresistible".By gearing up companies, private-equity groups withdraw managers' freedom to decide what to do with cashflow.
The borrowing total is being boosted by existing homeowners withdrawing equity from their house value.
Figures from the Bank of England showed that households continued to inject housing equity, rather than withdrawing it, for the 18th quarter in succession, although the level had dipped from £9.4bn in the second three months of 2012.
According to FinAid.org, 13.5 percent of parents are using PLUS loans to pay for college, borrowing an average of $23,298 -- and then there are many more parents who are taking out home equity loans or withdrawing money from retirement accounts or depleting their emergency funds.
However, with fears of another house price bubble in mind, is remortgaging to withdraw equity ever a good idea?
Official tells how one man withdrew equity from his home through a cash machine, shows the booth where the equity of that house was depleted, shows the debt letter--what's left after the transaction.
If a dodgy debtor ran into trouble repaying his loan, the bank would let him withdraw equity from his upwardly-mobile house and refinance the rest, terming it "voluntary pre-payment".
Last week, Univar, a large chemicals distributor owned by the private equity firm CVC Capital Partners, withdrew its I.P.O. and instead sold half of its stake to the buyout shop Clayton, Dubilier & Rice.
