The co-founder of private equity firm Silver Lake Partners sees “no reason” why there should not be a pick up in deal activity next year, despite the number of buyouts falling to a three-year low in the third-quarter.

Glenn Hutchins was speaking on Thursday at the Bloomberg Dealmakers Summit in New York. He said that deals were being held back by a number of factors including uncertainty over the US elections and over how the US "fiscal cliff" will be dealt with.