We survey 79 private equity investors with combined AUM of over $750B about their practices in firm valuation, capital structure, governance, and value creation. Investors rely primarily on IRR and multiples to evaluate investments. Their LPs focus more on absolute performance. Capital structure...

In a leveraged buyout, a company is acquired by a specialized investment firm using a relatively small portion of equity and a relatively large portion of outside debt financing. The leveraged buyout investment firms today refer to themselves (and are generally referred to) as private equity...

This paper presents clinically-based studies of two acquisitions that received very different stock market reactions at announcements one positive and one negative. Despite the differing market reactions, we find that, ultimately, neither acquisition created value overall. In exploring the...

There is a wealth of literature about discounted cash flow valuation. In this paper, we will discuss the most important papers, highlighting those that propose different expressions for the value of the tax shield (VTS). The discrepancies between the various theories on the valuation of a...

The value of tax shields depends only on the nature of the stochastic process of the net increases of debt. The value of tax shields in a world with no leverage cost is the tax rate times the current debt plus the present value of the net increases of debt. We develop valuation formulae for a...

shareholders ($4.5 trillion). In 1991-1999 it created value ($5.1 trillion), but in 2000-2010 it destroyed $9.6 trillion. The market value of the S&P 500 was $2.8 trillion in 1991 and $11.4 trillion in 2010. We also calculate the created shareholder value of the 500 companies during the 18-year...

The value of tax shields depends only on the nature of the stochastic process of the net increases of debt. The value of tax shields in a world with no leverage cost is the tax rate times the current debt plus the present value of the net increases of debt. By applying this formula to specific...

The value of tax shields depends only on the nature of the stochastic process of the net increases of debt. The value of tax shields in a world with no leverage cost is the tax rate times the current debt plus the present value of the net increases of debt. We develop valuation formulae for a...

There is a wealth of literature about discounted cash flow valuation. In this paper, we will discuss the most important papers, highlighting those that propose different expressions for the value of the tax shield (VTS). The discrepancies between the various theories on the valuation of a...