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PRIVATE EQUITY: SOURCES AND USES
Author(s) -
Bradford Travis,
Smith Roy C.
Publication year - 1997
Publication title -
journal of applied corporate finance
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 1745-6622
pISSN - 1078-1196
DOI - 10.1111/j.1745-6622.1997.tb00129.x
Subject(s) - private equity , private equity firm , club deal , private equity fund , equity capital markets , finance , business , private investment in public equity , private equity secondary market , venture capital , leverage (statistics) , negotiation , equity (law) , economics , machine learning , computer science , political science , law
Private equity capital is playing a large and growing role in the funding of small to medium‐sized, high‐growth businesses. Today's private equity investment typically takes the form of purchase of a minority interest in a post‐start‐up, high‐technology company followed by an IPO a few years later. A large number of such investors are scouring the markets for new investment possibilities and the competitive pressures are growing. Although private equity investors can and often do add significant value to a company, private equity is potentially expensive, in terms of both loss of ownership and loss of control over long‐term strategic decisions of the company. Owner‐managers who want to retain as much of both as possible are advised to install more formalized business procedures, expand the company's outside relationships, and become more familiar with the company's financial needs and options. These changes should reduce capital needs, reduce the costs of private equity funding, and increase negotiating leverage when dealing with large, sophisticated private capital investors.