Publications

July 2009 (Revised September 2009)
Case

The Blackstone Group: Merlin Entertainment

The Blackstone Group had conducted a roll-up of theme parks and attractions business in Europe. It was considering how to generate liquidity for its investors. Blackstone entered the theme parks and attractions business in Europe by acquiring a majority stake in... View Details

Keywords: Mergers and Acquisitions; Cost vs Benefits; Private Equity; Financial Liquidity; Investment Return; Risk Management; Leasing; Entertainment and Recreation Industry; Europe

February 2009 (Revised March 2013)
Supplement

Messer Griesheim (B)

By: Josh Lerner, Ann-Kristin Achleitner, Eva Lutz and Kerry Herman

In 2001, Allianz Capital Partners and Godlman Sachs acquired a majority stake in Messer Greisheim, a European industrial gas concern held by Hoeschst. The dealmakers faced several challenges, including delicate corporate governance issues due to partial family... View Details

Keywords: Mergers and Acquisitions; Private Equity; Stock Options; Stock Shares; Corporate Governance; Governance Controls; Family Ownership; Problems and Challenges; Energy Industry; Europe

September 2024 (Revised December 2024)
Case

Sona Comstar and Blackstone: Unlocking Value Through Business Transformation

By: Ranjay Gulati and Kanika Jain

Private equity firm Blackstone’s majority investment in automotive systems manufacturer Sona Comstar had culminated in the largest IPO in the Indian auto components industry in 2021, with stellar returns for all involved. This EV supplier was the result of a 2019... View Details

Keywords: Strategy; Decision Making; Engineering; Management; Risk and Uncertainty; Private Equity; Mergers and Acquisitions; Initial Public Offering; Auto Industry; Manufacturing Industry; Technology Industry; Asia; Southeast Asia

March 2022
Case

Metric

By: Christina Wallace, Rebecca Cink and Maria Lappas

Megan Murday, the founder of Metric, an environmental, social, and corporate governance (ESG) analytics startup, must decide which customer segment to target as a beachhead market. She received positive feedback from a Swiss venture capital (VC) firm, indicating their... View Details

Keywords: Entrepreneurship; Marketing; Mission and Purpose; Customers

June 2014 (Revised May 2020)
Supplement

Busse Place (B): Hannah's Dilemma

By: Arthur I. Segel and John H. Vogel, Jr.

Marisa Sanchez, a new Associate at Douglas Private Equity Advisors, confronts a dilemma when she is asked by a Senior Vice President (SVP) to do due diligence on a deal he wants to bring before the investment committee which will include the SVP, Douglas' owner and... View Details

Keywords: Real Estate; Financial Analysis; Property; Finance; Analysis; Ethics; Real Estate Industry; United States

June 2023 (Revised March 2024)
Case

Creating World-Class Board Governance at SECO

By: Krishna G. Palepu and Emer Moloney

In Spring 2023, SECO CEO Massimo Mauri had the ambition to grow the €200 million revenue technology company to a €1 billion company by 2030. Founded in Italy in the 1970s, the family-owned company had gone through a period of growth and internationalization,... View Details

20 Jul 2017
News

The Looming Threat That Could Decimate Wall Street's Fund Managers

Career Coach

Brent Brown

Brent (HBS '02) has experience in private equity/venture capital, investment banking, and real estate, consumer products and digital media industries and currently serves on the boards of numerous private... View Details

Keywords: Private Equity; Private Equity; Private Equity; Private Equity; Private Equity; Private Equity; Private Equity; Private Equity; Private Equity; Private Equity; Private Equity; Private Equity; Private Equity; Private Equity; Private Equity; Private Equity; Private Equity; Private Equity; Private Equity

06 Feb 2023
Blog Post

Meet the Black Investment Club

the Black Investment Club. Aka Akapelwa (MBA 2023) Aka Akapelwa came to HBS after six years in financial services, first in investment banking at Jeffries and later in Private Equity at ICV Partners where he... View Details

Keywords: Private Equity; Private Equity; Private Equity

November 2012 (Revised March 2013)
Case

Talking Strategy at Greighton Partners

By: Boris Groysberg and Kerry Herman

Since its inception, London-based private equity firm Greighton Partners had managed over $15 billion in investor capital. The firm employed about 150 professionals around the globe and had completed over 175 company acquisitions since its founding. Started with a... View Details

Keywords: Private Equity; Business Growth and Maturation; Growth and Development Strategy; Financial Services Industry; Asia; Europe

27 May 2010
News

Sir Ronald Cohen Offers Class Day Advice to MBA Class of 2010

November 2016 (Revised April 2018)
Case

Darby's Investment in Sirma: Professionalizing an Entrepreneurial Firm

By: Suraj Srinivasan and Eren Kuzucu

In March 2010, Burak Dalgın (HBS MBA 2004) led private equity firm Darby's investment in Sırma, a local Turkish water and beverage company. Sırma was owned and managed by members of two Turkish business families. The existing management, while being highly... View Details

Keywords: Control Systems; Variance Analysis; Emerging Markets; Debt; Family Ownership; Turkey; Valuation; Business or Company Management; Private Equity; Financial Reporting; Investment; Budgets and Budgeting; Food and Beverage Industry; Turkey

Career Coach

Gail Chang

Gail wants to help students who are interested in the following industries: investment banking, private equity, insurance, corporate finance, risk management and pricing. Prior to her MBA, Gail worked in the corporate finance division of... View Details

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

Robert Huckman is the Albert J. Weatherhead III Professor of Business Administration at Harvard Business School, the Howard Cox Faculty Chair of the HBS Healthcare Initiative, and the Senior Associate Dean for External... View Details

Keywords: biotechnology; health care; manufacturing; pharmaceuticals

11 Aug 2009
First Look

First Look: August 11, 2009

profit from their private information relating to a specific financial reporting element, goodwill impairments, prior to its incorporation by the equity market or recognition by the firm's accounting system.... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

30 Nov 2020
Research & Ideas

COVID Not Slowing VC Investment

seek larger equity stakes. “The valuations might not be as high as they would have expected, but there's still money there,” Gompers says. “There are still opportunities for those with really great companies or really great ideas.” View Details

Keywords: by Danielle Kost; Financial Services; Banking

20 Mar 2008
Working Paper Summaries

Sell Side School Ties

Keywords: by Lauren H. Cohen, Andrea Frazzini & Christopher J. Malloy; Financial Services

October 2002 (Revised April 2005)
Case

Jinwoong: Financing an Entrepreneurial Firm in the Wake of the Korean Financial Crisis

Describes T.P. Lee, the founder and CEO of Jinwoong, a 19-year-old entrepreneurial company in Korea that has grown to become the world's largest manufacturer of camping tents. Labeled by Fortune as one of the most promising entrepreneurs in Asia in 1993, Lee faces some... View Details

Keywords: Emerging Markets; Entrepreneurship; Financing and Loans; Financial Crisis; Manufacturing Industry; Consumer Products Industry; South Korea