Most private equity nowadays is invested in buyouts ($235b in 2018), whereby the majority of a company's shareholders sell.

For its part, Lyrique has focused on smaller buyout firms well below the average size off buyout funds ($1.09b in 2018 according to Preqin). Small and mid-market buyouts are a main strategy for Lyrique for several reasons:

• Less correlation with GDP changes
• Priced lower and have more room for operational improvements
• The space thrives from abundance of deals too small for large funds
• Buyouts are typically made of profitable companies with relatively low growth (few surprises)
• Small Funds tend to use less leverage, limiting risk