Publications

October 2020 (Revised June 2021)
Case

Francisco Partners Private Credit Opportunity Fund

By: Luis M. Viceira, John D. Dionne, Soracha Prathanrasnikorn and Ari Sunshine

In April 2020, Scott Einsenberg, the Head of Credit at the private equity firm Francisco Partners, is deciding whether to go ahead with extending a private lending agreement to Eventbrite, Inc. (NYSE: EB), a leading global event management and online ticketing... View Details

Keywords: Private Debt; Private Credit; Industry Evolution; Private Equity; Investment; Analysis

Program

Private Equity and Venture Capital

including: General partners and junior partners of private equity and venture capital firms Principals from the limited partner community who invest View Details

Keywords: Finance; Finance

13 Jan 2020
Research & Ideas

Do Private Equity Buyouts Get a Bad Rap?

Lerner, the Jacob H. Schiff Professor of Investment Banking at Harvard Business School, who leads the Entrepreneurial Management Unit. “Our paper reveals some very attractive and socially beneficial aspects of the View Details

Keywords: by Michael Blanding; Financial Services; Banking

2021
Working Paper

The Dance Between Government and Private Investors: Public Entrepreneurial Finance around the Globe

By: Jessica Bai, Shai Bernstein, Abhishek Dev and Josh Lerner

This paper examines the interaction between governments and private capital investors when financing early-stage ventures. We first provide a simple conceptual framework to explore when collaboration between governments and private investors is likely to emerge. Using... View Details

Keywords: Public Entrepreneurship; Subsidy; Industrial Policy; Entrepreneurship; Public Sector; Financing and Loans; Venture Capital; Global Range

SSRN

Read Now

05 Nov 2019
Working Paper Summaries

The Economic Effects of Private Equity Buyouts

Keywords: by Steven J. Davis, John Haltiwanger, Kyle Handley, Ben Lipsius, Josh Lerner, and Javier Miranda

23 Apr 2009
Working Paper Summaries

Does Public Ownership of Equity Improve Earnings Quality?

Keywords: by Dan Givoly, Carla Hayn & Sharon P. Katz

November 2024
Case

Moonfare and the Democratization of Private Equity

By: Victoria Ivashina and Srimayi Mylavarapu

Founded in 2016, Moonfare headquartered in Europe, was a pioneer in the “democratization” of private equity investments. Historically, private equity was accessible only to institutional investors like pension funds, endowments, sovereign wealth funds, and large family... View Details

04 Aug 2017
Working Paper Summaries

Private Equity and Financial Fragility During the Crisis

Keywords: by Shai Bernstein, Josh Lerner, and Filippo Mezzanotti; Financial Services

November 2007
Article

If Private Equity Sized Up Your Business

By: Robert C. Pozen

This article includes a one-page preview that quickly summarizes the key ideas and provides an overview of how the concepts work in practice along with suggestions for further reading. As the dust settles on the recent frenzy of private equity deals (including... View Details

Keywords: Mergers and Acquisitions; Capital Structure; Private Equity; Investment Return; Governing and Advisory Boards; Executive Compensation; Business and Shareholder Relations; Value Creation; Financial Services Industry

Find at Harvard

24 Apr 2014
News

Private capital, public good

US in 2011, a nonprofit organization dedicated to mobilizing capital to drive social progress. “The vision of expanding opportunity, by applying the rigor and discipline of markets to public goals, is what... View Details

Teaching Interest

Public Entrepreneurship

By: Mitchell B. Weiss

Public entrepreneurship is designed for future private entrepreneurs and public leaders who want to build new ventures operating in or selling into traditionally public domains.

The last few years have seen a wave of new public entrepreneurs start companies... View Details

Keywords: Public Entrepreneurship

12 Feb 2014
Research & Ideas

Private Sector, Public Good

Public Sector seminar series, which runs through May, is designed to induce lively conversation, build a community of scholars, and create a research agenda exploring the possible role of the private sector... View Details

Keywords: by Dina Gerdeman

February 2000 (Revised April 2004)
Case

Butler Capital Partners and Autodistribution: Putting Private Equity to Work in France

Describes a proposed buyout transaction of Autodistribution, an entrepreneurial firm that is the leading car-parts distributor in France. The deal became feasible because of a failed takeover battle for Autodistribution's parent company. Private equity investor Butler... View Details

Keywords: Private Equity; Leveraged Buyouts; Valuation; Executive Compensation; Entrepreneurship; Distribution Industry; Auto Industry; France

February 2003 (Revised March 2011)
Background Note

Between a Rock and a Hard Place: Valuation and Distribution in Private Equity

By: G. Felda Hardymon, Josh Lerner and Ann Leamon

Introduces the issues attendant to valuing privately held portfolios and distributing thinly traded stock. Although they have existed since the beginning of the formal venture capital industry, they have received increasing amounts of attention as the money invested in... View Details

Keywords: Venture Capital; Private Equity; Stocks; Investment Portfolio; Valuation; Financial Services Industry

October 1996 (Revised March 2011)
Background Note

Note on Valuation in Private Equity Settings, A

By: Josh Lerner and John Willinge

This note discusses several ways in which venture-backed firms can be valued, including comparables, net present value, decision-tree analysis, and the "venture capital method." View Details

Keywords: Entrepreneurship; Venture Capital; Private Equity; Investment; Valuation

July 2010
Article

Board Interlocks and the Propensity to Be Targeted in Private Equity Transactions

By: Toby E. Stuart and Soojin Yim

In this paper, we examine the propensity for U.S. public companies to become targets for private equity-backed, take-private transactions. We consider the characteristics of 483 private equity-backed deals in the 2000-2007 period relative to public companies, and find... View Details

Keywords: Board Interlocks; Board Networks; Social Networks; Private Equity; Corporate Governance; Public Ownership; Market Transactions; Governing and Advisory Boards; United States