Private Equity Demystified: An Explanatory Guide

Product Description
This book deals with risk capital provided for established firms outside the stock market, private equity, which has grown rapidly over the last three decades, yet is largely poorly understood. Although it has often been criticized in the public mind as being short termist and having adverse
consequences for employment, in reality this is far from the case. Here, John Gilligan and Mike Wright dispel some of the biggest myths and misconceptions about private equity. The book provides a unique and authoritative source from a leading practitioner and academic for practitioners,
policymakers, and researchers that explains in detail what private equity involves and reviews systematic evidence of what the impact of private equity has been. Written in a highly accessible style, the book takes the reader through what private equity means, the different actors involved, and
issues concerning sourcing, checking out, valuing, and structuring deals. The various themes from the systematic academic evidence are highlighted in numerous summary vignettes placed alongside the text that discuss the practical aspects. The main part of the work concludes with an up-to-date
discussion by the authors, informed commentators on the key issues in the lively debate about private equity. The book further contains summary tables of the academic research carried out over the past three decades across the private equity landscape including: the returns to investors, economic
performance, impact on R&D and employees, and the longevity and life-cycle of private equity backed deals.
Review
"Mike Wright was one of the towering figures in the field of private equity. He pioneered rigorous data analysis of buyouts and private equity a long time before it became fashionable to do so and stimulated a vast body of research on the subject as a consequence. This book exemplifies the major
contribution that Mike made to the field." -- Colin Mayer CBE FBA, Peter Moores Professor of Management Studies at the Saïd Business School, University of Oxford
"If you are looking for a book that provides you with a full picture of the structure and economics of private equity there is no finer source. The text covers the history of the field, its economic role, a balanced view of its merits and results, and a great deal of vital information on how deals
are done and investments made to prosper. Its bang up to date with lots of new content especially on the recent explosion of the use of fund leverage. Simply excellent." -- Jon Moulton, Chair of finnCap and of The International Stock Exchange, member of the board of the ICAEW Corporate Finance
Faculty
"As private equity's influence continues to swell all of our lives are now inextricably linked to the asset class. It has never been more important to remove the barriers and complexities private equity often seeks to hide behind.
Private Equity Demystified is therefore essential reading for each
and every one of us to ensure this asset class is kept in check." -- Alice Murray, Editor,
The Drawdown
"Demystifying the private equity industry - specifically leveraged buyouts - is no small feat, requiring exceptional expertise, powerful insight and great depths of knowledge. Gilligan and Wright display it all, as they take the reader through what is a thorough explanatory guide that Invest Europe
recommends most highly." -- Eric de Montgolfier, Chief Executive Officer, Invest Europe
"Much is written about private equity and a lot of it, even the articles in certain major newspapers, can be extremely superficial or ill informed. This publication is the antithesis of such coverage of the subject.ÂThe bookÂis thorough, considered and balanced. John Gilligan's experience as a
practitioner and the huge body of data compiled by CMBORÂunder the leadership of the late Mike Wright are blended togetherÂto make it very readable despite tackling quite complex concepts. This book should be a must-read for pe