What do Business Managers Think About Private Equity and Venture Capital

Private equity firms make money by investing in and building up businesses. This ranges from venture capitalists who provide funding to small companies and start-ups, to large buyout firms that invest in international companies and brands. Fundamentally, private equity is about value creation: increasing the value of a company over a finite period of time, and then selling it to realise those gains. In order to boost the value of the companies they invest in, private equity investors work closely with senior managers of portfolio companies. Yet there has been relatively little work looking at what those senior managers at the portfolio companies think of their private equity backers and the impact they have on the underlying businesses. This study addresses that gap, detailing the results of a survey of senior business leaders and managers that asked for their views and experiences of working with private equity investors.