Publications

19 Aug 2008
First Look

First Look: August 19, 2008

of going with Carlyle as a buyout partner, and then (ii) increasing the value of that business following the buyout. Since the profitability of a buyout depends on finding high-quality deals, the firm has... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

February 2004 (Revised September 2006)
Case

Apax Partners and Xerium S.A.

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

In 2002, Apax Partners had to decide whether to accept a less-than-perfect offer for one of its portfolio companies or to refinance it. This company, a maker of paper industry consumables with a global presence, had been purchased in 1999 and performed extremely well... View Details

Keywords: Leveraged Buyouts; Globalized Markets and Industries; Business Exit or Shutdown; Borrowing and Debt; Investment; Cash Flow; Pulp and Paper Industry

July 2008
Teaching Note

Yale University Investments Office: August 2006 (TN)

By: Josh Lerner and Ann Leamon

Teaching Note for [807073]. View Details

Keywords: Investment Funds; Strategy; Cost vs Benefits; Resource Allocation; Decision Choices and Conditions; Venture Capital; Assets; Leveraged Buyouts

06 Feb 2023
Blog Post

Meet the Black Investment Club

co-founded a Southern-Africa focused VC firm, Zenga Ventures. At HBS, Akapelwa is able to share his experience both as an entrepreneur and as an investor. Over the course of his career to date, Akapelwa has participated in closed View Details

Keywords: Private Equity; Venture Capital; Investment Management / Hedge Fund

20 Nov 2007
First Look

First Look: November 20, 2007

Burton had to assess the plans from a global perspective. Purchase this case: http://www.hbsp.harvard.edu/b01/en/common/item_detail.jhtml?id=508009 The Hertz Corporation (A) Harvard Business School Case 208-030 Examines the leveraged... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

03 Feb 2009
First Look

First Look: February 3, 2009

forthcoming Abstract In this essay, we review the key features of the literature on innovation and organizational structure. We highlight the key areas where work has been undertaken, as well as the limitations of the literature to date. The Performance of Reverse... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

April 1991 (Revised July 1991)
Case

RJR Nabisco Board: Guardians of the Gate? (A)

By: Jay W. Lorsch

Charles Hugel, the chairman of RJR Nabisco, receives a call from RJR Nabisco's CEO, Ross Johnson; Johnson plans to present an LBO plan to the board of directors at the board meeting the following week. The case details Hugel's actions as chairman, and describes the... View Details

Keywords: Leveraged Buyouts; Situation or Environment; Bids and Bidding; Decision Making; Managerial Roles; Governing and Advisory Boards; Management Teams; Consumer Products Industry; Food and Beverage Industry

12 Oct 2011
First Look

First Look: October 12

equity critics claim that leveraged buyouts bring huge job losses. To investigate this claim, we construct and analyze a new dataset that covers U.S. private equity transactions from 1980 to 2005. We track... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

July 1996 (Revised January 1997)
Case

Northwest Airlines: Brush with Bankruptcy (A)--November 1992

By: Leonard A. Schlesinger and Davis Dyer

Deals with Northwest's financial crisis between the fall of 1992 and the following spring. Northwest's leaders face the problem of how to meet an impending $600 million payment on the 1989 LBO loan when the airline had run out of cash. Concludes by outlining options... View Details

Keywords: Air Transportation; Restructuring; Leveraged Buyouts; Crisis Management; Insolvency and Bankruptcy; Financial Strategy; Financial Crisis; Air Transportation Industry; United States

Find at Harvard

February 2017 (Revised January 2022)
Supplement

Bankruptcy at Caesars Entertainment (B)

By: Kristin Mugford

Keywords: Gaming; Chapter 11; Fraudulent Conveyance; Apollo; TPG; Bankruptcy; Leveraged Buyouts; Restructuring; Capital Structure; Insolvency and Bankruptcy; Private Equity; Financial Management; Lawsuits and Litigation; Negotiation; Entertainment and Recreation Industry; Las Vegas

March 2021 (Revised January 2022)
Case

Revlon: Surviving Covid-19

By: Kristin Mugford and Sarah Gulick

In October 2020, Revlon faced a crossroads. While it had been struggling with high levels of debt before COVID-19, the pandemic had caused it to go further into debt. Unlike other financial crises, many consumers had stopped buying skincare or cosmetics, and sales of... View Details

Keywords: COVID-19 Pandemic; Leveraged Buyouts; Insolvency and Bankruptcy; Financial Liquidity; Bonds; Corporate Finance; Borrowing and Debt; Beauty and Cosmetics Industry; Financial Services Industry; United States

20 Aug 2012
Research & Ideas

The Acquirers

M&A research examined topics such as how structured credit impacted the buyout boom and bidding strategies of private equity firms, little focus had been placed on the competition between acquiring companies themselves. In earlier... View Details

Keywords: by Kim Girard; Financial Services

14 Jun 2004
Research & Ideas

The Big Money for Big Projects

capital structure, board of directors, compensation schemes, etc.—which may or may not be appropriate for any particular asset, the firm can create an entirely different governance system that is ideally suited for the asset in question. Much the same way View Details

Keywords: by Ann Cullen; Financial Services

February 1997 (Revised December 2012)
Case

Jim Sharpe: Extrusion Technology, Inc. (A)

By: H. Kent Bowen and Barbara Feinberg

Jim Sharpe, 11 years after receiving his MBA from Harvard and working for others, has finally become his own boss and 100% owner of manufacturer of aluminum extrusions. After 10 months of an unfunded search, he acquires the business in an LBO and prepares to face his... View Details

Keywords: Acquisitions; Search Funds; Entrepreneurial Management; Entrepreneurs; Turnarounds; Bank Loan; Manufacturing; Metals Processing; Entrepreneurial Finance; Leveraged Buyouts; Labor Unions; Entrepreneurship; Financing and Loans; Crisis Management; Management Skills; Experience and Expertise; Borrowing and Debt; Manufacturing Industry

25 Mar 2013
Research & Ideas

How Chapter 11 Saved the US Economy

its financial problems outside of bankruptcy court. One of the world's largest real-estate companies, Realogy was acquired in the spring of 2007 by the private equity firm Apollo Management in a $7 billion leveraged buyout. The View Details

Keywords: by Kim Girard; Financial Services

26 Oct 2017
News

Can Farming Save the Planet?

the world of finance. He became one of the people brought in after leveraged buyouts to save failing companies. During Wiviott’s time as COO for one of those companies, Quality Trailer Products, he doubled... View Details

Keywords: Constantine von Hoffman; Organic farming; Support Activities for Agriculture and Forestry; Agriculture

16 Sep 2014
First Look

First Look: September 16

seven large institutions. These direct investments perform better than public market indices, especially buyout investments and those made in the 1990s. Outperformance by the direct investments, however, relative to the corresponding... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

March 1985 (Revised November 1988)
Case

Precision Parts, Inc. (A)

By: William A. Sahlman

Contains a description of a decision confronting two entrepreneurs in mid-1981. They are considering purchasing a small manufacturer of precision electromechanical parts. Among the issues in the case are the following: 1) Should Taylor and Grayson buy Precision Parts,... View Details

Keywords: Leveraged Buyouts; Venture Capital; Financing and Loans; Cost vs Benefits; Investment Return; Strategy; Management Practices and Processes; Risk and Uncertainty; Outcome or Result; Manufacturing Industry