Article: Start-ups' new buyer: private equity firms: VENTURE CAPITALISTS FIND AN ALTERNATIVE TO THE IPO.

Byline: Constance Loizos

Dec. 22--Private equity firms, already reshaping wide swaths of American business, are poised to begin shaking up the venture industry, too.

In a new survey of venture capitalists' 2007 predictions, 71 percent of the 200 individuals polled by the National Venture Capital Association said that selling their start-ups to these giant buyout firms may become an "attractive option" next year.

It's a dramatic shift; the worlds of venture capital and private equity have rarely interacted.

Private-equity firms typically buy mid-size to large companies -- public or private -- with an eye toward selling for at least ...

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