Private Equity Firms

Private equity firms are snapping up brand-name companies and assembling portfolios that make them immense global conglomerates. They're often able to maximize investor value far more successfully than traditional public companies. How do PE firms become such powerhouses? Learn how, in Lessons from Private Equity Any Company Can Use. Bain chairman Orit Gadiesh and partner Hugh MacArthur use the concise, actionable format of a memo to lay out the five disciplines that PE firms use to attain their edge: · Invest with a thesis using a specific, appropriate 3-5-year goal · Create a blueprint for change--a road map for initiatives that will generate the most value for your company within that time frame · Measure only what matters--such as cash, key market intelligence, and critical operating data · Hire, motivate, and retain hungry managers--people who think like owners · Make equity sweat--by making cash scarce, and forcing managers to redeploy underperforming capital in productive directions This is the PE formulate for unleashing a company's true potential.

A comprehensive look at the private equity arena With private equity differing from other asset classes, it requires a whole new approach for those trained in more traditional investments such as stocks and bonds. But with the right guidance, you can gain a firm understanding of everything private equity has to offer. This reliable resource provides a comprehensive view of private equity by describing the current state of research and best practices in this arena. Issues addressed include the structure of private equity funds and fundraising, the financial and real returns of private equity, and the structure of private equity investments with investees, to name a few. Discusses the role of private equity in today's financial environment Provides international perspectives on private equity Details the regulation of private equity markets Filled with in-depth insights and expert advice, this book will provide you with a better understanding of private equity structures and put you in a better position to measure and analyze their performance.

"The best guide to private equity funds. Insight and explanations for both fund sponsors and investors. The gold standard." --Andrew Zalasin, General Partner and CFO: RRE Ventures Best Practices for Organizing and Managing a Fund With nearly $7 trillion invested in more than 20,000 funds, investor interest in the private equity industry has returned, despite the economic turmoil of recent years. Still, guidance about the organization and administration of these funds is tough to find. This 1,400+ page resource, will equip corporate lawyers, investment professionals, and tax practitioners and with best practices to manage these funds effectively. Private Equity Funds: Business Structure and Operations covers a wide range of important issues, such as: the key economic differences between various types of funds; structuring the private equity fund to meet economic expectations and investment goals; securing maximum tax benefits for the sponsor of the fund; duties of the fund's General Partner and Investment Advisor; the major regulatory issues affecting the private equity fund; and much more. Private Equity Funds: Business Structure and Operations reflects the aftermath of the financial crisis of 2007 to 2009. The authors also focus on cyber risk and the compliance obligations of investment advisers.

Private equity firms have long been at the center of public debates on the impact of the financial sector on Main Street companies. Are these firms financial innovators that save failing businesses or financial predators that bankrupt otherwise healthy companies and destroy jobs? The first comprehensive examination of this topic, Private Equity at Work provides a detailed yet accessible guide to this controversial business model. Economist Eileen Appelbaum and Professor Rosemary Batt carefully evaluate the evidence—including original case studies and interviews, legal documents, bankruptcy proceedings, media coverage, and existing academic scholarship—to demonstrate the effects of private equity on American businesses and workers. They document that while private equity firms have had positive effects on the operations and growth of small and mid-sized companies and in turning around failing companies, the interventions of private equity more often than not lead to significant negative consequences for many businesses and workers. Prior research on private equity has focused almost exclusively on the financial performance of private equity funds and the returns to their investors. Private Equity at Work provides a new roadmap to the largely hidden internal operations of these firms, showing how their business strategies disproportionately benefit the partners in private equity firms at the expense of other stakeholders and taxpayers. In the 1980s, leveraged buyouts by private equity firms saw high returns and were widely considered the solution to corporate wastefulness and mismanagement. And since 2000, nearly 11,500 companies—representing almost 8 million employees—have been purchased by private equity firms. As their role in the economy has increased, they have come under fire from labor unions and community advocates who argue that the proliferation of leveraged buyouts destroys jobs, causes wages to stagnate, saddles otherwise healthy companies with debt, and leads to subsidies from taxpayers. Appelbaum and Batt show that private equity firms’ financial strategies are designed to extract maximum value from the companies they buy and sell, often to the detriment of those companies and their employees and suppliers. Their risky decisions include buying companies and extracting dividends by loading them with high levels of debt and selling assets. These actions often lead to financial distress and a disproportionate focus on cost-cutting, outsourcing, and wage and benefit losses for workers, especially if they are unionized. Because the law views private equity firms as investors rather than employers, private equity owners are not held accountable for their actions in ways that public corporations are. And their actions are not transparent because private equity owned companies are not regulated by the Securities and Exchange Commission. Thus, any debts or costs of bankruptcy incurred fall on businesses owned by private equity and their workers, not the private equity firms that govern them. For employees this often means loss of jobs, health and pension benefits, and retirement income. Appelbaum and Batt conclude with a set of policy recommendations intended to curb the negative effects of private equity while preserving its constructive role in the economy. These include policies to improve transparency and accountability, as well as changes that would reduce the excessive use of financial engineering strategies by firms. A groundbreaking analysis of a hotly contested business model, Private Equity at Work provides an unprecedented analysis of the little-understood inner workings of private equity and of the effects of leveraged buyouts on American companies and workers. This important new work will be a valuable resource for scholars, policymakers, and the informed public alike.

Ulrich Lossen explores the trade-off between diversification and specialization in private equity funds. In a first step, he analyzes the influence of external factors on the choice of private equity firms to diversify their portfolios across different dimensions, such as financing stages, industries, and geographic regions. Then, he examines the impact of diversification on private equity funds’ performance.

The definitive guide to private equity for investors and finance professionals Mastering Private Equity was written with a professional audience in mind and provides a valuable and unique reference for investors, finance professionals, students and business owners looking to engage with private equity firms or invest in private equity funds. From deal sourcing to exit, LBOs to responsible investing, operational value creation to risk management, the book systematically distils the essence of private equity into core concepts and explains in detail the dynamics of venture capital, growth equity and buyout transactions. With a foreword by Henry Kravis, Co-Chairman and Co-CEO of KKR, and special guest comments by senior PE professionals. This book combines insights from leading academics and practitioners and was carefully structured to offer: A clear and concise reference for the industry expert A step-by-step guide for students and casual observers of the industry A theoretical companion to the INSEAD case book Private Equity in Action: Case Studies from Developed and Emerging Markets Features guest comments by senior PE professionals from the firms listed below: Abraaj • Adams Street Partners • Apax Partners • Baring PE Asia • Bridgepoint • The Carlyle Group • Coller Capital • Debevoise & Plimpton LLP • FMO • Foundry Group • Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer • General Atlantic • ILPA • Intermediate Capital Group • KKR Capstone • LPEQ • Maxeda • Navis Capital • Northleaf Capital • Oaktree Capital • Partners Group • Permira • Terra Firma

Usually, private equity firms take control of firms which are privately held, and tend to act hidden. But, in recent years, the rising phenomenon of private investments in publicly listed companies, so-called PIPEs, could be observed. At first, this seems to be inconsistent but, it could become a perfect way to generate good returns. This book gives an overview about the PIPE market, and then focuses on the role of private equity funds. How do they invest in publicly listed firms? And what are their motivations? Is the overall performance of PIPE deals superior to those of traditional private deals? PIPE deals have much in common with typical venture capital deals with regard to the young and high-risk nature of target companies, and the minority ownership position. Surprisingly, buyout funds are relatively more engaged in PIPEs than venture funds are. The author analyzes deal sizes, industry sectors, holding periods, IRRs and multiples of public deals, and comparable private deals with a unique data sample on transaction level. Finally, he discusses other possible motives for private equity firms to engage in these deals: improved liquidity, fast process of deal execution, access to certain markets, avoidance of takeover premiums and the thesis of an escape-strategy for surplus investment money.

Private equity-backed businesses are increasingly prevalent, and their governance practices are a black box. This book lifts the lid.