Private equity and venture finance

Lecturer:

Dr John Cadle  

Module description

The module deals with private equity and venture finance from inception of the idea to harvesting (exiting) of the investment. The first half of the module deals with institutional background of new venture financing and differences between entrepreneurial and ‘traditional’ corporate finance. The second half will cover aspects of initial valuation and alternative ways to harvest equity investments. In particular, we deal with the initial public offerings (IPO) process and financial performance of venture-backed- companies.

Learning outcomes

By the end of the module, students will be expected to be able to:

• Appreciate differences between venture capital and mainstream corporate finance.
• Appreciate institutional differences in raising and structuring private equity funds
• Understand various financial and ownership aspects of private equity and venture capital investments.
• Be able to apply various valuation techniques in private equity settings.
• Understand how firms make initial public offerings and the cost of such offerings.
• Be able to evaluate short and long term performance of venture capital-backed companies.

Assessment

• 1 group assignment to be submitted by March/April (25%)
• 2-hour exam in May/June (75%)