Venture Capital & Private Equity: A Casebook (5th Edition)

Josh   Lerner; Felda  Hardymon; Ann  Leamon

Casebook | 2012

Venture Capital & Private Equity: A Casebook (5th Edition)

by Josh Lerner, Felda Hardymon and Ann Leamon

Abstract

Venture Capital & Private Equity: A Casebook, 5th edition provides an understanding of the ways in which private equity groups work. The casebook builds an understanding of the key distinctions in the industry and reviews and applies key ideas of corporate finance. The 5th edition continues to explore a wide variety of valuation approaches, from techniques widely used in practice to methods less frequently seen in practice today but likely to be increasingly important in the future years.

Keywords: Venture Capital; Private Equity; Books;

Format: Print

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Lerner, Josh, Felda Hardymon, and Ann Leamon. Venture Capital & Private Equity: A Casebook (5th Edition). New York: John Wiley & Sons, 2012. (New York: John Wiley & Sons, 2001 (second edition) (with Felda Hardymon). Beijing: Economic Science Press, 2002 (Chinese translation of the second edition). Tokyo: Toyo Keizai Shinposha, 2003 (Japanese translation of the second edition). New York: John Wiley and Sons, 2004 (third edition) (with Felda Hardymon and Ann Leamon). New York: John Wiley & Sons, 2008 (fourth edition) (with Felda Hardymon and Ann Leamon). Beijing: CITIC Press, 2013 (Chinese translation of the fifth edition).)

Governments are important financiers of private sector innovation. While these public funds can ease capital constraints and information asymmetries, they can also introduce political distortions. We empirically explore these issues for China, where a quarter of firms’ R&D expenditures come from government subsidies. Using a difference-in-differences approach, we find that the anti-corruption campaign that began in 2012 and the departures of local government officials responsible for innovation programs strengthened the relationship between firms’ historical innovative efficiency and subsequent subsidy awards and depressed the influence of their corruption-related expenditures. We also examine the impact of these changes: subsidies became significantly positively associated with future innovation after the anti-corruption campaign and the departure of government innovation officials.

In 2018, private equity firm Clayton, Dubilier & Rice celebrated its 40th anniversary and its 20th year under the leadership of CEO Don Gogel. In those decades, CD&R showed solid portfolio performance and generated strong returns for its investors - accomplishments attributed to its unique balance between operations and finance professionals. The firm made sure that, for every deal, it had both the finance and operations expertise to grow revenues, streamline operations, and truly turnaround distressed companies. But as CD&R entered into its fifth decade and its largest fund to date (nearly $10 billion AUM), competition, AUMs, industry "dry powder," and buyout valuations were all on the rise. Within CD&R, rapidly-evolving technologies, talent retention, and the prospect of Gogel's retirement presented additional sources of pressure. Gogel and his team had to consider whether CD&R could maintain its unique identity and continue to add value as it had in the past in the face of such circumstances.

This teaching note is meant to guide in the instruction of HBS No. 316-013 "Blackstone at 30" case. It examines the process of institutionalization and scaling in private equity and alternative investments more generally, looking specifically at how Blackstone's size affects its business model and opportunities for growth. It also explores the process by which Blackstone became a publicly owned company as well as the advantages and disadvantages that public ownership offers to a firm like Blackstone.

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Venture Capital & Private Equity: A Casebook (5th Edition)

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