Publications

November 1995 (Revised October 2000)
Case

Acme Investment Trust

By: Josh Lerner

Acme Investment Trust is considering investing in a private equity partnership that is seeking only 15% of the profits, instead of the standard 20%. The management fee requested, however, is higher than in its earlier fund. The pension managers must consider the... View Details

Keywords: Compensation and Benefits; Private Equity; Organizations; Investment Funds; Motivation and Incentives; Financial Services Industry

Research Summary

Negotiation Analysis and the Structuring of Financial Transactions

Jay O. Light is developing materials that will explore how negotiation analysis and related techniques can be used in structuring financial transactions in the context of entrepreneurial situations, and how they might be used to enhance value in private equity... View Details

09 Feb 2022
News

When Will Hot Housing Market Finally Start to Cool?

30 Oct 2013
News

#Twitterforsale

March 2003 (Revised November 2003)
Case

3i Group plc

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

Brian Larcombe, CEO of 3i Group, one of the world's largest private equity firms and one of the few publicly listed ones, is deciding how best to use his firm's international network to deliver superior returns to shareholders. This case presents 3i's history and... View Details

Keywords: Business History; Networks; Private Equity; Growth Management; Global Strategy; Public Ownership; Business and Shareholder Relations; Growth and Development Strategy; Financial Services Industry

February 2009 (Revised April 2011)
Module Note

Financing Growth in Family and Closely Held Firms

By: Belen Villalonga

This note describes the second of four modules in Financial Management of Family and Closely Held Firms, an elective MBA course at Harvard Business School. The note analyzes the pros and cons of different equity financing options that are available to family firms such... View Details

Keywords: Corporate Finance; Business Growth and Maturation

September 1995 (Revised May 1998)
Case

RogersCasey Alternative Investments: Innovative Response to the Distribution Challenge

By: Josh Lerner

RogersCasey Alternative Investments faces the challenge of managing distributions of stock by the private equity investors in which their clients have invested. These distributed shares appear to behave in complex ways, apparently at odds with market efficiency. A... View Details

Keywords: Private Equity; Stocks; Financial Strategy; Investment; Innovation Strategy; Management; Distribution; Performance; Behavior

Research Summary

Organizational Change: The Market for Corporate Control and the Third Industrial Revolution

Michael C. Jensen is conducting research on organizational change and the corporate control market. Specifically, he is investigating the changing role of the corporation and competing organizational forms, such as leveraged buyout organizations, that are replacing... View Details

19 May 2008
Research & Ideas

Connecting School Ties and Stock Recommendations

social networks in the form of school ties—bonds formed based on attendance at a common educational institution—helped equity analysts outperform on stock recommendations when the analysts enjoyed an educational link with a company's... View Details

Keywords: by Martha Lagace; Financial Services

12 Oct 2016
Blog Post

Interning as a Software Engineer while at HBS

Today, we’re catching up with Andrea Coravos (HBS ‘17). Before coming to HBS, Andrea worked in private equity at KKR Capstone. She also spent three years at McKinsey in the Houston and then DC offices. This... View Details

December 2006 (Revised May 2008)
Case

Lion Capital and the Blackstone Group: The Orangina Deal

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

The managing partners of two private equity firms are hoping to forestall a third bidding round for a target company, the European beverage division of Cadbury Schweppes. As they wait to meet with the CEO, they revisit their assumptions on the deal and review the... View Details

Keywords: Mergers and Acquisitions; Private Equity; Negotiation Deal; Negotiation Process; Partners and Partnerships; Valuation; Europe

July 2022 (Revised October 2024)
Case

3G Capital

By: Jo Tango and Alys Ferragamo

In June 2022, 3G Capital Co-Managing Partners Alex Behring and Daniel Schwartz were in a partners’ meeting. On the agenda were three potential investments. Code named “Alpha,” “Bravo,” and “Charlie” (real target companies that have been disguised), they were the... View Details

Keywords: Investment Decisions; Investment Funds; Investment Portfolio; Decision Choices and Conditions; Private Equity; Leveraged Buyouts

16 Jul 2010
News

After Years of Anticipation, a Subdued Public Offering for Kohlberg Kravis

November 2021 (Revised February 2022)
Case

Advent International and Walmart Brazil's Deal

By: Victoria Ivashina, Ruth Costas and Pedro Levindo

Advent International, one of the world’s leading private equity firms, must decide whether to acquire Walmart’s subsidiary in Brazil or not. Although Walmart Brazil is losing cash at a rapid pace, Advent thinks it has a solid plan to recover the company’s finances.... View Details

Keywords: Private Equity; Acquisition; Decision Making; Risk Management; Retail Industry; Brazil

February 2000 (Revised April 2005)
Case

Gray Security: Building a South African Services Firm

Describes Gray Security Services, an entrepreneurial South African firm that has recently gone through a financial restructuring with the help of Brait Capital Partners, a private equity firm. Gray provides complete security services to companies in South Africa, other... View Details

Keywords: Initial Public Offering; Entrepreneurship; Equity; Growth and Development Strategy; Service Industry; South Africa

March 2020
Case

Cafe Kenya

By: Lynda M. Applegate and James T. Kindley

This case describes Café Kenya (CK), a Kenyan-based chain of casual quick-food restaurants. The chain was started in 2011 in Nairobi by Nekesa Kuria. Kuria started Café Kenya and grew it by reinvesting profits into company stores and through franchising. She also... View Details

Keywords: Restaurants; Entrepreneurship; Business Startups; Growth and Development Strategy; Kenya

October 2018 (Revised February 2018)
Case

Masayoshi Son and the Vision Fund

By: Tom Nicholas, Ramana Nanda and Benjamin N. Roth

In October 2016, SoftBank Group Corp., the Japanese conglomerate giant caused a significant shock to the worldwide market for venture capital and private equity by announcing the Vision Fund, the largest tech investment fund in the world at close to $100 billion. The... View Details

Keywords: Strategy; Venture Capital; Private Equity; Entrepreneurship; Competitive Strategy

January 2015
Case

Brentwood Associates: Exiting Zoës Kitchen

By: Joan Farre-Mensa and Stephanie Siu

The case discusses the trade-offs associated with the different exit options that private equity firm Brentwood Associates contemplated for its investment in Zoës Kitchen during the summer of 2013: an IPO, a sale to a strategic or financial acquirer, or waiting a few... View Details

Keywords: Finance; Entrepreneurship; Food and Beverage Industry; California