For private-equity firms, it's no longer a done deal

— -- Private-equity buyers didn't see a company they didn't want to own last year. Now, some don't want to see the ones they agreed to buy.

Amid a credit crunch that makes it harder for private-equity firms to borrow money needed to pay for takeovers, a weaker economy and other concerns, some deals are stalling.

"Due to reality or panic, deals may not be worth quite as much," says Randy Katz, partner of law firm Bryan Cave. "Buyers may have remorse or cold feet," he says.

Meanwhile, private-equity investors are shying away from new deals. Just 28 private-equity buyouts worth $2 billion have been announced this year, Thomson Financial says, the slowest start to a year since January 2005.

Hurting private-equity deals:

•Tighter lending. Last year, when private-equity firms were signing blockbuster deals, credit was plentiful and the economy was solid, says Josh Lerner, investment banking professor at Harvard Business School. But the tighter market for loans and slower economy make it harder for private-equity firms to finance and justify the deals, he says. "A lot of deals were done in one era, and now we're in another era," he says.

•Regulatory hitches. Given the tougher environment, private-equity firms will back away at surprises, including demands by regulators, says Greg Peterson, a partner at professional service firm PricewaterhouseCoopers.