More equity, still private

Freescale’s $17,6bn buyout could approach a record. Sure, there have been bigger leveraged buyouts. But the private equity consortium taking the semiconductor-maker private might have to write a record equity cheque unless bankers agree to slap what looks like an excessive amount of debt on a company with poor and erratic cash flows. The potential equity slug, at as much as $8bn, would be a mammoth amount, not just in absolute terms, but also in total for Freescale’s bidders, Blackstone, Carlyle...