When private equity firms hunt for acquisitions, they look for business characteristics that minimize risk as they build value and position for a potential exit.  All investment firms break down the key traits that interest them the most.  The challenge of course is finding what they want at a reasonable multiple.   So what business characteristics do private equity firms covet the most? Continue reading »

By Mark Di Vincenzo

When you look at the biggest private equity buyouts in history, it’s easy to spot the glory years — 2006 and 2007, before a severe recession rocked the nation.

Economists say the recession is behind us, but we’re still limping along, and there are fears that the economy may double dip back into a recession. That has kept the deals of the past three or four years relatively small.

Here’s a list of the 10 biggest private equity buyouts, compiled by BusinessInsider, and a look at how they’ve worked out for the private equity firms involved: Continue reading »

The recent creation of a $24 million TechStars fund that promises to invest $100k into each accepted company (on top of the original $6k to $18k) is a big win for the program and the entrepreneurs vying for one of their coveted spots.  TechStars currently has programs in 4 cities (Boulder – HQ, Boston, Seattle, and New York) and altogether pumps 60 businesses through their 3 month, mentorship driven system each year. Continue reading »

Or is it the other way around? Rumors of a mega VC raise for popular file storage service Dropbox have been swirling in recent weeks and TechCrunch now confirms that Index Ventures is leading a round which values the 4 year-old startup at $4 billion. Continue reading »

Requiring 4 years of qualified professional experience and the passage of three, grueling 6-hour exams, the CFA Charterholder designation is not an easy qualification to obtain.  As such, there are only 90,000 charterholders around the world. Doing a quick search of ‘CFA’ amongst the 14,500+ junior to senior PE professionals in the PrivateEquityFirms.com database yields roughly 300 of them (2% of all database entries and 0.33% of all charterholders). Continue reading »

It’s been a couple of months since our recent makeover and one feature that’s proven quite popular with new and existing users is the ability to create simple project lists of private equity ‘Firms’, ‘Portfolio Companies’, and/or private equity ‘Professionals’, one record at a time. Currently, we provide four unique lists for each type of data (see below). Continue reading »

Assuming your opportunity meets a firm’s investment criteria, just pick up the phone and call.  Of course referrals are good too, but no need for introductions.

There’s a reason why most private equity firms are fairly ‘open’ when it comes to showing team info, investment history etc., and that’s because they’re constantly on the lookout for new opportunities or bolt on acquisitions. Continue reading »

Private equity firms are generally not the types of businesses that people drop by and visit, so for most, the website is the gateway to the world and the first stop for anyone learning a little about the firm and their approach.

Generally, PE websites are pretty bland – lots of stock images of boardrooms, puzzle pieces and people working together.  VC firms are certainly more creative in their approach and noticeably put significant effort into making their online presences memorable and unique, Foundry Group, Index Ventures, Founder Collective, to name a few. Continue reading »