Secondaries, mid-market firms battle for PEI awards

Lexington Partners is engaged in a hotly contested race with Pomona Capital, Landmark Partners and Goldman Sachs to determine the top secondaries firm in North America in The Private Equity International Awards 2009.

This is the ninth year that sister publication Private Equity International has brought you our highly regarded global readers' poll.

The North American secondaries fray is one of many tight races in the awards, voting for which ends Monday, 18 January at 3pm GMT.

As the mid-markets in Europe and North American were last year among the most active sectors for private equity firms, heated battles have also emerged for those categories; in Europe, Advent International, Bridgepoint, Silverfleet Capital and Electra Private Equity all fighting for first, while in the US, General Atlantic, GTCR Golder Rauner, Pine Brook Road Partners and The Riverside Company are engaged in a tight race.

Who will take the crown?

Large-cap firms are also neck and neck on both sides of the Atlantic, with First Reserve, Hellman & Friedman, Kohlberg Kravis Roberts and TPG trading punches on the North American stage, and Apax Partners, CVC Capital Partners, Permira and TowerBrook Capital Partners fighting for the European crown.

In Asia, the race for growth investor of the year is intense, as Baring Private Equity Partners battles it out with Olympus Capital Partners, The Carlyle Group and SAIF Partners.

To help speed the voting process, this year our global editorial team has provided four suggestions in each voting category. These are just suggestions – or if you rather, reminders – as, crucially, there is also a fifth choice in each category, where you can nominate whomever you'd like. So if, in your view, none of the suggestions are right, then simply type in the name of the firm or transaction you believe should win in that fifth box. As ever, these are the only awards voted by the industry for the industry, so do take 10 minutes to share your views.

The rules are simple: you may only vote once and you may not vote for yourself or your own firm. You are not required to vote in all categories – only vote in those that are of interest to you. And – of course – all votes are confidential.

Click here to vote in the North American poll.
Click here to vote in the European poll.
And click here to vote in the Asian, African, Middle Eastern and Latin American poll.

The annual poll attracts many thousands of votes from all over the world – so make sure you're a part of them. The results provide vital evidence of the still dynamic and diverse nature of private equity – and it's not as if 2009 doesn't, finally, need some winners.