Using a unique proprietary data set of 1,980 realized and unrealized buyouts completed between 1986 and 2010, we examine entry and exit pricing in buyouts and its influence on private equity (PE) sponsors' returns. We find that besides leverage and operational improvements, EBITDA multiple...

Most of the existing research on value creation drivers in private equity buyouts is restricted to the US and the UK, whereas continental European countries are not included. In addition, most of the generally applied methods for measuring the importance of different value creation drivers do...

Financial covenants play a crucial role in mitigating agency conflicts in loan agreements of high leverage. In a European-wide qualitative survey among private equity experts, we assessed the impact of the financial crisis on financial covenants in leveraged buyout transactions. We concentrated...

An increasingly global venture capital (VC) business raises the question whether foreign VCs'investments pull economic activity away from domestic economies. Using a large sample ofVC-backed European ventures, we analyze whether involvement of foreign VCs influencesfirms' and entrepreneurs'...

This paper analyzes the determinants of returns generated by European private equity funds. It starts from the presumption that this asset class is characterized by illiquidity, stickiness and segmentation. As a consequence, Gompers and Lerner (2000) have shown that venture deal valuations are...

This paper presents a cash flow based analysis of the return and risk characteristics of European Private Equity Funds. For that purpose a comprehensive data set has been provided by Thomson Venture Economics. We document the typical time pattern of cash flows for European private equity funds....