While private equity sponsors are increasingly choosing private debt funds over banks to back their acquisitions, there is a component in buyout transactions where banks are irreplaceable – revolving credit facilities. Banks' decision to step back in the space is disrupting the deal process. “It is causing a big headache for private equity sponsors. We are increasingly seeing situations in which deals announced without a RCF in place, or where sponsors delay the buyout process because they can’t secure a RCF quickly,” said Simon Fulbrook, a Private Equity partner in London, while speaking with International Financing Review.