Value Creation in Private Equity Markus Biesinger, Çağatay Bircan and Alexander Ljungqvist Abstract We open up the black box of value creation in private equity with the help of confidential information on value creation plans and their execution. Plans are tailored to each portfolio company’s needs and circumstances, have become more hands-on, and vary with deal type, ownership, growth strategy, and geographic focus. Successful execution is subject to resource constraints, economies of specialization, and diminishing returns, and varies systematically across funds. Successful execution is a key driver of investor returns, especially in growth, buyout, and secondary deals. Company operations and profitability improve in ways consistent with successful execution, even beyond PE funds’ exit. Keywords: Private equity, venture capital, growth investing, secondaries, value creation, financial returns, machine learning JEL Classification Number: G11, G24, G30, G32, L26 Contact details: Çağatay Bircan, One Exchange Square, London EC2A 2JN, UK. Phone: +44 20 7338 8508; Fax: +44 20 7338 6111; email:
[email protected]. Markus Biesinger is a banker at the EBRD, Çağatay Bircan is an economist at the EBRD, and Alexander Ljungqvist is a professor at the Stockholm School of Economics. We are grateful to the staff of the EBRD for enabling access to data and their advice and comments throughout this project. We thank Victoria Ivashina, Tim Jenkinson, Steven Kaplan (discussant), Song Ma (discussant), Morten Sørensen (discussant), Vladimir Mukharylamov, Ludovic Phalippou, and participants at various seminars and conferences for helpful discussion. Susanne Wischnath provided excellent research assistance. Ljungqvist gratefully acknowledges generous funding from the Marianne & Marcus Wallenberg Foundation (MMW 2018.0040, MMW 2019.0006).