Big Buyout in the Pipeline

If there was a question about whether potential conflicts would prompt investment bank Goldman Sachs to lower its profile in private equity investing, here is a $22 billion answer. The firm’s buyout arm has a prominent role in Monday’s proposed management-led buyout of Kinder Morgan, which, if it gets done, would be the largest leveraged buyout since Henry Kravis’ private equity shop made its audacious run at RJR Nabisco in the late 1980’s.