Buy-out groups in the US are having their busiest month on record after launching nearly $82bn-worth of bids since the beginning of May.

The frenzy of activity defies predictions of a slowdown in the private equity-driven deal boom but could also signal a desire by buy-out funds to rush into deals before credit markets take a turn for the worse.

Josh Lerner, a Harvard Business School professor specialising in private equity, said: “Part of the reason for the increase in activity is a secular shift in liquidity, but part of it is an opportunistic taking advantage of the time.”

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