Private Equity & Venture Capital

A Practitioner's Guide to State-of-the-art Strategies and Techniques

Course Highlights

This course will start with such basic questions as "what is private equity?" then move quickly into how to analyse the different types of private equity and how to model their returns. Both buyout and venture capital will be studied in detail, as well as treatment of secondary transactions, development and growth capital, mezzanine financing and PIPEs. You will learn how to plan and execute a private equity fund investment programme over time, sector and geography.

For details of the course trainer, please download the course brochure

Booking Information

Dates	Prices	Discount
16 - 17 Mar 2009	£ 2099	-
04 - 05 Jun 2009	£ 2099	-
02 - 03 Nov 2009	£ 2099	-

Course Programme

Day One

What is Private Equity?

Broad definition
Terminology
Buyout and venture outlined and distinguished
Fund versus direct investing
Other types in outline: PIPEs, development capital, mezzanine
Geographical dispersion
How the industry has grown over time

The Nuts and Bolts– How PE Funds Operate

How do PE funds work?
Structure – the GP/LP model
Fees and carried interest
Allocated, committed, drawn-down and invested capital
The J-curve
Cashflows
The investment/divestment cycle
Fundraising
Key documentation

Private Equity Returns– the Basics

Understanding the J-curve
Compound versus annual returns
Vintage year returns
IRRs
Multiples – TVPI, DPI, etc.
Median returns
Upper quartile returns
Pooled returns
Time-weighted returns
Valuation

Accounting and Reporting for PE Funds

Annual accounts
Quarterly reports
EVCA valuation guidelines
NVCA valuation guidelines
BVCA valuation guidelines
The role of the auditor
The role of the advisory committee
Timely reporting

Buyout – an Outline

Types of buyouts
Size
Sector
Geography
Other “buyout” activity
Debt
Earnings
Control
Barriers to Entry

Tax Treatment of PE Funds and LP Interests

Pension funds
UK taxpayers
Special case – insurance companies
Double taxation
Accounting Standards and other specifics
Required information

Venture – an Outline

Applications, not technology
Sector
Stage
The US model
The US model comes to Europe
Required skills
Cultural and attitudinal differences

Day Two

How to Analyse Buyout

Return drivers
Earnings
Multiple
Multiple increase in a perfect market
Multiple increase in an imperfect market
Leverage (Debt)
Recapitalisation
Timing

Buyout Returns

US versus Europe
Skills
Imperfect markets
The great fund size debate
Conclusions and predictions

How to Analyse Venture

Money multiples
Valuation
Cost and value
IRRs and multiples
Going In equity
Percentage within fund
Home runs Venture Returns
US versus Europe
Returns by fund stage
Multiples drive IRRs
Impact of fund size
European venture
Conclusions and predictions

Due Diligence

At the fund of Funds level
At the fund level
At the company level
Qualitative
Quantitative
Think outside the box
Targeted, not blanket
Monitoring PE funds

Planning your Investment Programme

Cashflow modelling
Over-commitment
Diversification by time
Co-investment
Secondaries Uninvested capital– beware Stock Market beta

The Role of PE within a Modern Portfolio

Yale model
Diversification
Risk
Long term investors
Liquidity
Pension fund returns