Prof Ashwini Agrawal and Prof Juanita Gonzalez-Uribe

This course is available on the MSc in Finance (full-time), MSc in Finance (full-time) (Work Placement Pathway) and MSc in Finance (part-time). This course is not available as an outside option.

Students must have completed FM422/FM422E Corporate Finance and FM423/FM423E Asset Markets.

This course cannot be combined with FM414 or FM476.

• Evaluating and executing Private Equity Deals
• Business Plans, Venture Capital, and Entrepreneurial Finance
• Private Equity as an asset class and the private equity landscape

The course provides a study of the theoretical frameworks and practical problems that arise in private equity (PE). The course content will be roughly split between venture capital/entrepreneurial financing and leveraged debt/buyout transactions. We will study how private equity funds are raised and structured. We will then examine how PE capital is deployed for investments in various types of firms, such as start-ups, growth firms, and companies facing financial distress. Finally, we will study how private equity investors exit their investments. The course will also cover the various types of financial instruments used in private equity, and we will provide frameworks to evaluate the short and long-run performance of private equity as an asset class.

30 hours of seminars in the LT.

This course is taught in the interactive lecturing format. There is no distinction between lectures and classes/seminars; there are “sessions” only, and the pedagogical approach in each session is interactive.

Each week there will typically be a formative or summative case study assignment.

Ulf Axelson, Tim Jenkinson, Per Strömberg, and Michael S. Weisbach. Leverage and Pricing in Buyouts: An Empirical Analysis. August 28, 2007; Steven N. Kaplan and Per Strömberg. Leveraged Buyouts and Private Equity, Social Science Research Network, June 2008; Cendrowski, Harry. Private Equity: Governance and Operations Assessment. Hoboken: John Wiley & Sons. 2008; Lerner, Joshua. Venture Capital and Private Equity: A Casebook. New York: John Wiley & Sons. 2000; Acharya V V; Franks J R & Servaes H (2007) "Private Equity: Boom and Bust?" Journal of Applied Corporate Finance, 19(4) , Fall 2007, 44-53.

Continuous assessment (100%) in the LT.