Stylized facts suggest that strategic acquirers can pay for synergies, while private equity (PE) firms cannot because of the missing operating fit with the portfolio company. However, if PE firms initiate buy-and-build strategies, there is potential for an operating fit between the portfolio...

Secondary buyouts (SBOs) represent more than 50 percent of the total private equity (PE) buyout activities. However, in academia and practise, a potential underperformance of SBOs compared to primary buyouts (PBOs) is discussed. Therefore, it is all the more important to further understand how...

I propose a new investor sentiment measurement for the private equity market based on over 12,000 private equity deals from 68 countries over 1992 to 2012. The data indicate that institutional environments and firm-specific characteristics are both strong determinants of the private equity...

This paper analyzes the impact of performance, investment-firm-related, and macroeconomic variables on fundraising activities in private equity (PE). We use a novel, backward-looking approach to link current to preceding funds, which allows for including several parallel predecessor funds in our...

Private equity firms that are affiliated with banks have become major players in the leveraged buyout (LBO) market, raising billions of dollars in funds. In this paper, I investigate value creation of these LBOs through operating performance, leverage, and pricing. I find that bank-affiliated...

The high internal rates of return sought by private equity funds are highly sensitive to portfolio company holding periods. We examine the determinants of holding periods for a sample of European buyouts from 2000 to 2015. Our results establish that the average holding period has lengthened to...

This paper investigates whether private equity (PE)-backed acquirers have a “parenting advantage” in the mergers & acquisitions (M&A) market. We employ a sample of 788 PE-backed firms and a carefully matched control group of 6,652 non-PE backed peers, for which we observe the entire...

We study the impact of PE firm and buyout characteristics on default probability employing a Cox proportional hazards model to a global sample of 5,093 buyouts between 1997 and 2012. Our results indicate that investments of generalists have lower default probability than those of specialists....

This paper explores how diversity among lead partner teams (LPTs) of private equity (PE) funds affects buyout performance. We argue that there is a trade-off between the “bright side” of diversity, i.e., improved decision-making due to a broader set of perspectives, and the “dark side”,...

Understanding value creation at the transaction level is at the heart of explaining private equity (PE) returns. Taking advantage of a proprietary sample of 2,029 international buyout deals executed between 1984 and 2013 we provide detailed evidence on financial, market and operational value...