Publications

August 2017 (Revised September 2023)
Case

Altoona State Investment Board & Bain Capital Fund XI

By: Josh Lerner and Ted Berk

Considers the decision faced by state pension fund manager Rod Calhoun as he decides whether to invest $200 million in Bain Capital's eleventh global buyout fund: Bain Capital Fund XI. For the fund, Bain was offering its limited partners a choice among three different... View Details

Keywords: Equity Method; Leveraged Buyout; Management Buyout; Capital; Design; Entrepreneurship; Finance; Leveraged Buyouts; Management; Private Equity; Venture Capital; Banking Industry; Massachusetts

September 2018
Case

Advent International: Kroton Investment

By: Victoria Ivashina, Ruth Kostas and Priscilla Zogbi

Keywords: Private Equity; Acquisition; IPO; Valuation; Education; Distance Learning; Turnaround; Growth; Exit; PE; Buyer; Middle-class; Low Income; K-12; Entrepreneur; Family Business; University; College; Consolidation; Fragmentation; Penetration; Value; Shares; Control; Negotiation; Equity; Transaction; Board; Majority; Minority; Post-secondary; Leverage; Campus; Deal; Shareholder; Tag Along; Brazil; Latin America

October 2020 (Revised November 2020)
Case

Wilderness Safaris: Impact Investing and Ecotourism Conservation in Africa

By: James E. Austin, Megan Epler Wood and Herman B. "Dutch" Leonard

In 2018 the majority ownership of publicly owned Wilderness Safaris, the leading high-end ecotourism company in Africa with safari operations in eight countries, was acquired by The Rise Fund, one of the world’s largest private social impact investing funds, and by FS... View Details

June 2013
Case

Comprosa

By: Jim Sharpe and Jose Luis Barbero

A Spanish manufacturer of packaging films has successfully returned to break even and is considering options to attain sustainable profitability. View Details

Keywords: Turnaround; Turnarounds; Distressed Debt; Private Equity; Cash Flow Analysis; Supplier Relationship; Supply Chain Management; Unions; Global Competitiveness; Leadership And Managing People; Sales Force Management; Sales Compensation; Insolvency and Bankruptcy; Global Strategy; Salesforce Management; Cash Flow; Chemical Industry; Manufacturing Industry; Spain

September 2018
Supplement

Advent International: Kroton Investment

By: Victoria Ivashina, Priscilla Zogbi and Ruth Kostas

Keywords: Private Equity; Acquisition; IPO; Valuation; Education; Distance Learning; Turnaround; Growth; Exit; PE; Buyer; Middle-class; Low Income; K-12; Entrepreneur; Family Business; University; College; Consolidation; Fragmentation; Penetration; Value; Shares; Control; Negotiation; Equity; Transaction; Board; Majority; Minority; Post-secondary; Leverage; Campus; Deal; Shareholder; Tag Along

April 2022
Teaching Note

Tempur Sealy International (A, B & C)

By: Benjamin C. Esty and Daniel Fisher

Teaching Note for HBS Case Nos. 718-422, 718-423, and 718-424. The cases explore the long-term relationship between Tempur Sealy (TPX, a mattress manufacturer) and Mattress Firm (MFRM, a bedding retailer and TPX's largest customer). For almost 20 years, the firms... View Details

September 2017 (Revised April 2022)
Supplement

Tempur Sealy International (A)

By: Benjamin C. Esty

This case explores the long-term relationship between Tempur Sealy (TPX, a mattress manufacturer) and Mattress Firm (MFRM, a bedding retailer and TPX's largest customer). For almost 20 years, the firms enjoyed a mutually beneficial and commercially prosperous... View Details

Victoria Ivashina is the Lovett-Learned Professor of Finance and Head of the Finance Unit at Harvard Business School. She also serves as a Research Associate at the National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER), a Research Fellow at the Center for Economic Policy... View Details

Keywords: private equity (LBO funds); private equity (LBO funds); private equity (LBO funds); private equity (LBO funds); private equity (LBO funds); private equity (LBO funds)

November 2012 (Revised January 2014)
Case

HCA, Inc. LBO Exit

By: Victoria Ivashina

This case discusses the events following the 2006 $33.2 billion buyout of Hospital Corporation of America (HCA) by a consortium of private equity firms, including Bain Capital, KKR, and Merrill Lynch's private equity arm. The case highlights some of the core features... View Details

Keywords: Entrepreneurship; Finance; Stockholders; Dividends; Private Equity; Initial Public Offering

Paul Gompers, Professor of Business Administration at the Harvard Business School, specializes in research on financial issues related to start-up, high growth, and newly public companies. Professor Gompers has an appointment in both the View Details

Keywords: electronics; health care; high technology; information technology industry; investment banking industry; pharmaceuticals; semiconductor; venture capital industry

18 Apr 2023
Research & Ideas

The Best Person to Lead Your Company Doesn't Work There—Yet

had been with the PE-owned company less than a year from when it was acquired until the PE fund’s exit. Some 30,000 private equity deals valued at $4 trillion took place in the five years ending in 2021, the... View Details

Keywords: by Rachel Layne; Financial Services

Brian K. Baik

Brian Baik is an assistant professor in the Accounting and Management Unit at Harvard Business School. He teaches the Financial Reporting and Control course in the MBA required curriculum.

Professor Baik studies how information, financial reporting, and... View Details

Keywords: private equity (LBO funds); private equity (LBO funds)

April 2004 (Revised June 2004)
Case

Neeley University Investment Management Company

This case analyzes the problem of a university looking to reduce its private equity exposure in its endowment. The university hires Cogent Partners, a small investment bank specializing in private equity secondary trading. View Details

Keywords: Financial Management; Private Equity; Higher Education; Financial Services Industry; Education Industry

November 1997 (Revised January 2003)
Case

Martin Smith: January 2002

By: Josh Lerner

An MBA student must choose between offers from three private equity organizations. Each organization has distinct strengths and weaknesses, and different implications for the student's career development. The case presents compensation and employment data about the... View Details

Keywords: Private Equity; Compensation and Benefits; Analytics and Data Science; Job Offer; Personal Development and Career