After a period in purgatory, the private equity industry is back to dreaming of $10bn deals again. But most buyout funds will likely be stuck with sweating the small stuff instead.

This ought to be a propitious time for buyouts. During the 2005-07 boom, the spread between junk-bond yields and the earnings yield on stocks narrowed from roughly two percentage points to nothing. Debt costs at or below returns on equity made leveraged buyouts a winner. After blowing out during the financial crisis, the spread has narrowed again.