Publications

November 2007 (Revised March 2009)
Case

Clear Channel 2006

By: Richard S. Ruback and Leslie Pierson

The Board of Directors of Clear Channel Communications, a radio broadcasting and outdoor advertising company, has to respond to a revised proposal from two private equity firms to take the company private. In November of 2006, the Board had unanimously approved an... View Details

Keywords: Decision Choices and Conditions; Private Equity; Governing and Advisory Boards; Negotiation Offer; Privatization; Business and Shareholder Relations

October 2018
Case

Fairview Capital

By: Steven Rogers and Derrick Collins

JoAnn Price and Dr. Larry Morse were the first African-Americans to launch a fund of funds in the private equity industry. Their fund, Fairview capital, was created in response to the dearth of capital invested in private equity funds managed by black and other... View Details

Keywords: Alternative Assets; Fund Of Funds; Private Equity; Venture Capital; Decision Making; Strategy; United States

Career Coach

Alejandro Maldonado

also spent five years as a vice-president at H.I.G. Capital, a leading US private equity firm investing in diverse industries in the middle market space. In 2012, he founded Appian Education Ventures, a fund... View Details

Keywords: Private Equity; Private Equity; Private Equity; Private Equity; Private Equity; Private Equity; Private Equity; Private Equity; Private Equity; Private Equity

2023
Working Paper

What Do Impact Investors Do Differently?

By: Shawn Cole, Leslie Jeng, Josh Lerner, Natalia Rigol and Benjamin N. Roth

In recent years, impact investors – private investors who seek to generate simultaneously financial and social returns – have attracted intense interest and controversy. We analyze a novel, comprehensive data set of impact and traditional investors to assess how the... View Details

Keywords: ESG; Socially Responsible Investing; Investment Decisions; Public Goods; Impact Investment; Investment; Private Equity; Venture Capital

SSRN

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Article

Do Strict Capital Requirements Raise the Cost of Capital? Bank Regulation, Capital Structure and the Low Risk Anomaly

By: Malcolm Baker and Jeffrey Wurgler

Traditional capital structure theory predicts that reducing banks' leverage reduces the risk and cost of equity but does not change the weighted average cost of capital, and thus the rates for borrowers. We confirm that the equity of better-capitalized banks has lower... View Details

Keywords: Capital Structure; Banks and Banking; Banking Industry

Read Now

October 2010 (Revised January 2012)
Case

Hony, CIFA, and Zoomlion: Creating Value and Strategic Choices in a Dynamic Market

By: Josh Lerner and Yiwen Jin

The private equity group Hony Capital considers what to do with their investment in Zoomlion, which has been successful to date. The question is whether to take their money off the table or to invest in their acquisition of a large Italian competitor. View Details

Keywords: Private Equity; Financial Strategy; Investment; Emerging Markets; Financial Services Industry; China

10 Feb 2017
Working Paper Summaries

The Persistent Effect of Initial Success: Evidence from Venture Capital

Keywords: by Ramana Nanda, Sampsa Samila, and Olav Sorenson; Financial Services

May 2021 (Revised September 2021)
Case

CPE and SUS Environmental: You've Got to Know When to Hold 'Em

By: Josh Lerner and Franko Jira

In July 2016, Di Yang and Grace Guo of the leading Chinese private equity group CPE faced a dilemma—a happy dilemma, but a challenge nonetheless. CPE’s investment in the waste-to-energy firm SUS Environment had proved to be exceedingly successful. This success had... View Details

Keywords: Decision Choices and Conditions; Private Equity; Financial Liquidity; Investment Return; Growth and Development

Josh Lerner graduated from Yale College with a special divisional major. He worked for several years on issues concerning technological innovation and public policy at the Brookings Institution, for a public-private task force in Chicago, and on... View Details

Keywords: biotechnology; high technology; venture capital industry

November 2000 (Revised March 2001)
Case

Yale University Investments Office: July 2000

By: Josh Lerner

David Swensen, chief investment officer at Yale University, reviews the $10 billion endowment strategy, that places an unusually heavy emphasis on private equity and other illiquid securities. Changing market conditions in July 2000 cause him to rethink historically... View Details

Keywords: Private Equity; Financial Liquidity; Investment; Strategy; Education Industry

20 Mar 2012
First Look

First Look: March 20

case:http://cb.hbsp.harvard.edu/cb/product/212001-PDF-ENG Abraaj Capital and the Karachi Electric Supply Company Josh Lerner, Asim Ijaz Khwaja, and Ann LeamonHarvard Business School Case 812-019 In 2008, the Dubai-based private View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

January 1998 (Revised September 2001)
Background Note

A Note on Angel Financing

By: Paul A. Gompers

Discusses the economics of the private equity market and recent efforts by the U.S. Small Business Administration to promote greater angel financing. View Details

Keywords: Financial Markets; Government and Politics; Financing and Loans; Financial Services Industry; United States

25 Apr 2014
Video

Jim Alexandre - Making A Difference

25 Apr 2014
Video

Richard Sussman - Making A Difference

January 2006 (Revised August 2008)
Case

Vivaldi Food Concepts--The Start-up of an Asian Venture (A)

Joel Silverstein needs to raise an additional $1.5 million from private investors to round out the equity financing for his new Quick Service Restaurant venture in China, Korea, and Japan. How should he pitch the opportunity? What should be the terms? View Details

Keywords: Venture Capital; Private Equity; Business Startups; Retail Industry; Food and Beverage Industry; Japan; China; South Korea

November 1999
Case

Doyle's Dealmaking Dilemma: Negotiating the Job Search

By: James K. Sebenius

MBA student Doyle Williams searches for his ideal job in a private equity group and uses his negotiation skills to try to attain the best possible compensation package. View Details

Keywords: Compensation and Benefits; Job Interviews; Job Search; Negotiation Process; Negotiation Tactics