Private equity

If you want to be successful, you have to harness the talent. The top private equity firms have a genius for hiring superior talent. All organizations need great people, but PE measures talent with one test only: performance. It’s not that private equity firms are heartless. Rather, their three- to five-year time horizon doesn’t allow […]

A year ago, most of us couldn't name a single asset in the Cerberus Capital Management portfolio. Today, we know them as the private equity firm that...

Private equity fund performance is most often reported in a way that exaggerates the truth. A modified calculation gives a more accurate read of performance...

Times change and markets transform themselves overnight. The half-life of common wisdom is shorter than ever. But top private equity firms have distilled a set of institutional habits that boost the likelihood of their success. What’s critical to this success? Attitude. PE leaders take pains to foster a “results-oriented mind-set”. In short, that means creating […]

The unique benefits of private equity investment

They don’t use the financial tools they learned in B-school.

They do it a lot and have learned what to look for.

In good times and bad, the top private equity firms have outperformed most businesses over the past forty years–even during down cycles. Clearly, PE firms have had to adjust their deal flow but the way that leading players operate their portfolio companies serves as a model for public firms, especially during an economic squeeze. That’s […]

A few months back I wrote about micro-decisions and how they can add up to macro money. But as a student of decision-making I would be remiss if I didn't...

A study of 42 leveraged buyouts produced surprising findings that should guide policy reforms.

Here’s how.

Historically, the efforts of private equity firms to address leadership challenges have been limited primarily to replacing portfolio-company CEOs. Now,...

They overvalue smarts and urgency.

A hybrid model can balance the short term with long-term continuity.

Why “buying to sell” can generate a much higher return on investment than the public company practice of “buying to keep”

The obstacles you can expect to confront, and how to overcome them.

How to identify and attract investors who will support your long-term, stakeholder-focused plans.

Private-equity firms routinely achieve eye-popping returns on the businesses they operate. Their secret? A relentless focus on four management disciplines.

As the dust settles on the recent frenzy of private equity deals (including transactions topping $20 billion), what lessons can companies glean? Directors...

Critics charge that in today's heavily traded capital markets, executives are increasingly incentivized to manage in tiny, short-term windows, with an...

The financial attractiveness of branded coffee shops attracted investments from the private equity industry in 2005. The case analyzes how Palamon Capital...

Steve & Barry's grew rapidly in the mid-2000s, transitioning from a chain of small stores selling inexpensive collegiate-branded merchandise near university...

Case Supplement for Case IN1784

The case opens in August 2020 as Moulay Mhamed Elalamy (Mhamed), CEO of the Saham Group (the Group), a pan-African investment company that operates a...

In a six-party negotiation exercise, the TNDA Corp. plans to sell the Elcer Products Division to one of four potential buyers (industrial, financial,...

This note will aid in introducing students to the Private Equity Finance course.

In 2002, Arcapita Bank, B.S.C., then known as First Islamic Investment Bank, or FIIB, faced a liquidity crunch. Aracapita offered Islamic-compliant private...

An abstract is not available for this product.

Anthony (Tony) Pritkzer, Paul Carbone, and the Pritzker Private Capital (PPC) team wondered how to approach the firm's next phase of growth. PPC was a...

Two entrepreneurs have just been told by their venture capital backer to prepare a list of possible cuts to help them weather the 2008-2009 economic downturn....

Nashton Partners was a search fund founded by two HBS MBA's that raised $500,000 to finance a search for a company that they could purchase and then run...

Vitality Pharmaceuticals is a leading traditional Chinese medicine manufacturer in China co-founded by Dr. Qin Tao and his father Dr. Qin Chang. Qin Capital...

Acme Investment Trust is considering investing in a private equity partnership that is seeking only 15% of the profits, instead of the standard 20%. The...

Private equity firm Clayton, Dubilier & Rice (CD&R) is preparing a bid for leading US car rental agency Hertz. By replacing Hertz's top managers, improving...

For the board of The We Company-better known as WeWork-August 14, 2019 promised to be a pivotal day. It was then that WeWork's IPO prospectus, known as...

A real estate developer decides whether to enter into a public private partnership with the government of West Bengal to develop a township on farmland....

As a multi-generational family business with a 100-year history in industrial engineering, the Nash Engineering Company had turned many challenges into...

The partners at Innova Capital, a leading mid-market private equity investor in Poland, must negotiate a transition of power between the two ex-patriate...

In a six-party negotiation exercise, the TNDA Corp. plans to sell the Elcer Products Division to one of four potential buyers (industrial, financial,...

When staff as well as investors participate in a profitable exit by a global private equity firm, the industry pays attention. KKR's sale of CHI, a garage...

If you want to be successful, you have to harness the talent. The top private equity firms have a genius for hiring superior talent. All organizations need great people, but PE measures talent with one test only: performance. It’s not that private equity firms are heartless. Rather, their three- to five-year time horizon doesn’t allow […]

The financial attractiveness of branded coffee shops attracted investments from the private equity industry in 2005. The case analyzes how Palamon Capital...

Steve & Barry's grew rapidly in the mid-2000s, transitioning from a chain of small stores selling inexpensive collegiate-branded merchandise near university...

Case Supplement for Case IN1784

The case opens in August 2020 as Moulay Mhamed Elalamy (Mhamed), CEO of the Saham Group (the Group), a pan-African investment company that operates a...

In a six-party negotiation exercise, the TNDA Corp. plans to sell the Elcer Products Division to one of four potential buyers (industrial, financial,...

This note will aid in introducing students to the Private Equity Finance course.

In 2002, Arcapita Bank, B.S.C., then known as First Islamic Investment Bank, or FIIB, faced a liquidity crunch. Aracapita offered Islamic-compliant private...

An abstract is not available for this product.

Anthony (Tony) Pritkzer, Paul Carbone, and the Pritzker Private Capital (PPC) team wondered how to approach the firm's next phase of growth. PPC was a...