ANN ARBOR ? Kevyn Orr, Detroit’s emergency manager, and Ken Buckfire, president of Miller Buckfire, both of whom played key roles in Detroit’s restructuring efforts following its historic Chapter 9 bankruptcy, will keynote the Ninth Annual Private Equity Conference at the University of Michigan Oct. 16-17.

A second keynote will be delivered by T. Bondurant (Bon) French, the chief executive officer of Adams Street Partners, one of the largest managers of private equity for institutional investors, which manages more than $22 billion of committed capital.

The ’boutique’ Conference will spotlight topics in the nation’s credit markets that pose challenges and new opportunities for those in private equity and institutional investing. Private equity, investment banking and business professionals from around the United States and from the U-M alumni community will be in attendance.

“Today’s venture market has flattened out quite a bit, but the private equity market is still holding strong and taking on some of the traditional venture capital roles by investing growth capital in young companies,” said David J. Brophy, director of the Center for Venture Capital and Private Equity Finance at the University of Michigan’s Ross School of Business. “In a sluggish economy, private equity is booming ? especially in the middle market. This conference will provide great networking and learning opportunities for companies and investors who are searching for these types of deals.”

Pre-conference events start Oct. 16 with a golf outing at the U-M golf course as well as the opportunity to go on the U-M football field and tour the locker rooms. This will be followed by a dinner reception at the Campus Inn for all conference registrants. The formal conference program will start Oct. 17 and run from 7:30 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. at the Michigan Union.

In addition, a series of panel discussions and a networking lunch will be held. Panel sessions will focus on “Emerging Trends in How LPs are Currently Investing” and “Perspective on the Current PE Regulatory Environment.” A concurrent workshop, led by Nick Barker of Huron Capital Partners, will spotlight a case study on the firm’s buy-and-build strategy as it relates to the dental market.

Panelists at this year’s event include:

Jeremy Duksin, Credit Suisse Private Fund Group

Brian Gimotty, UAW Retiree Medical Benefits Trust

Brian Kolin, Blackstone

Sid Murdeshwar, AlpInvest Partners, Inc.

Audrey DiMarzo, Rizvi Traverse Management LLC

Ian Rivera, ACA Compliance Group

Josh Westerholm, Kirkland & Ellis LLP

Michael DuBay, Honigman

Online registration for the conference is open through October 14. For more information or to register, Click on ZLI.Bus.Umich.Edu