Publications

December 2012 (Revised January 2015)
Technical Note

Early Career LBOs Using the Search Fund Model

By: Howard Stevenson, Michael Roberts and Jim Sharpe

The funded search model is one alternative for individuals who, at some point in their career, want to run their own companies. This note looks at the funded search, as a means to entrepreneurship through acquisition and describes the path to buy and run a business... View Details

Keywords: Search Funds; Search; Entrepreneurial Finance; Investor Behavior; Career Planning; Entrepreneurial Management; Fundraising; Negotiation; Entrepreneurship; Capital Structure; Borrowing and Debt; Personal Development and Career; Private Ownership; Acquisition; Finance; Leveraged Buyouts

October 2006 (Revised September 2014)
Case

Summit Partners - The FleetCor Investment (A)

By: Michael J. Roberts

Part of a 3-case series in which students get to see the unfolding of due diligence on private equity (buy out) deal. In this, the A case, the deal team has negotiated a letter of intent with FleetCor, a firm that operates a fuel payment network for vehicle fleets.... View Details

Keywords: Negotiation Preparation; Private Equity; Leveraged Buyouts; Investment; Negotiation Offer; Service Industry

09 Dec 2019
Research & Ideas

Identify Great Customers from Their First Purchase

Using information collected during a customer’s first purchase, a new marketing tool that leverages machine learning technology can provide firms with valuable predictions about the customer’s future behavior, says Eva Ascarza, a... View Details

Keywords: by Kristen Senz; Retail; Service

August 2013 (Revised December 2014)
Case

Taking Dell Private

By: David J. Collis, David B. Yoffie and Matthew Shaffer

In July 2012, Michael Dell, CEO and founder of Dell, Inc., met with a representative of Silver Lake Partners to explore taking his company private. The company, which he had founded in his dorm room as a college freshman and which had made him the youngest Fortune 500... View Details

Keywords: Strategy; Going Private; The PC Market; Market For Corporate Control; Corporate Strategy; Leveraged Buyouts; Change Management; Private Equity; Market Entry and Exit; Private Ownership; Information Infrastructure; Applications and Software; Internet and the Web; Computer Industry; Technology Industry; United States

02 Oct 2006
Research & Ideas

Negotiating in Three Dimensions

Effective management and leadership often depend on the capacity to envision and bring about sustainable agreements among these parties. This is true with respect to discrete transactions such as mergers, labor contracts, and out-of-court... View Details

Keywords: by Martha Lagace

10 Oct 2011
Research & Ideas

Retailing Revolution: Category Killers on the Brink

model. Amazon leverages its higher inventory turns, lower investments in physical assets, and faster cash conversion cycle to deliver up to 20 percent cost savings to the consumer. At a 5 percent price advantage, consumers might not see... View Details

Keywords: by Rajiv Lal & Jose B. Alvarez; Retail

29 Jan 2008
First Look

First Look: January 29, 2008

to receive favorable loan terms. First, bank relationships formed through repeated transactions reduce inefficiencies from information asymmetry between the lender and the leveraged View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

November 1989 (Revised December 1996)
Supplement

Wisconsin Central Ltd. Railroad and Berkshire Partners (B): LBO Associations and Corporate Governance

By: Michael C. Jensen

Describes the resolution of the default situation. Further examines the internal control mechanisms and distinct role of the board of directors of a typical LBO association. View Details

Keywords: Corporate Governance; Leveraged Buyouts; Rail Industry

August 2012 (Revised July 2015)
Background Note

A Note on Valuation in Private Equity

By: Paul A. Gompers

This note will provide an overview of valuation methodologies in private equity. View Details

Keywords: Valuation; Valuation Methodologies; Private Equity; Leveraged Buyouts

June 19, 1991
Article

What Went Wrong With the LBO Boom

Keywords: Leveraged Buyouts

Find at Harvard

October 2013
Case

Advantage Partners: Dia Kanri (A)

By: Paul A. Gompers, Nobuo Sato and Akiko Kanno

This case explores the opportunity to purchase the condominium management business of a distressed real estate developer by Advantage Partners, a leading Japanese private equity firm. The case explores investment structuring, bidding strategy, and the ability of... View Details

Keywords: Private Equity; LBO; Roll-up; Investment; Financing; Condominium Management; Leveraged Buyouts; Asia

29 May 2013
Research & Ideas

Faculty Symposium Showcases Breadth of Research

firms involved in private equity transactions were actually more cited than patents granted to other firms. Citing a study that tracked 3,200 target firms over 15 years, Lerner explained that the net employment effect of private equity... View Details

Keywords: by Carmen Nobel; Financial Services

1993
Chapter

Lessons from a Middle-Market LBO: The Case of O.M. Scott

By: George P. Baker and Karen H. Wruck

Keywords: Leveraged Buyouts

June 1999
Case

Investitori Associati: Exiting the Savio LBO (B)

By: Josh Lerner

Supplements the (A) case. View Details

Keywords: Leveraged Buyouts; Investment

February 2011 (Revised November 2011)
Supplement

Berkshire Partners: Bidding for Carter's (CW)

By: Malcolm P. Baker and David Lane

Supplemental data on comparable companies to Burger King including both public companies and similar transactions. View Details

Keywords: Leveraged Buyouts; Analytics and Data Science; Bids and Bidding; Financial Services Industry