Hello all - any good book recommendations to prepare for a career in PE? For reference, I'm about to finish my first year in banking and have a PE job lined up for summer 2018. Trying to make the most of my next year to help with the transition into the PE role. Any and all help is much appreciated.
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Read any book by E.L. James. Highly recommend!
One year later and you still got me.....
Bump!
There are a million books on Amazon. Here's a couple that are easy to digest and give you a strong sense of the industry;
Mergers and Acquisition Playbook by Mark Filippel. Go find his podcast Fully Invested, he covers the whole book, chapter by chapter. Plenty of other podcasts out there.
The Complete Guide to a Successful Leveraged Buyout by Allen Michel and Israel Shaked.
Idiots and Dummies Guides to M&A.
Leveraged Buyouts; a Practical Introductory Guide to LBO’s by David Pilger.
Mergers and Acquisitions from A – Z by Andrew Sherman. The best foundational book on the subject.
Helpful books/primers on debt for incoming PE associates (Originally Posted: 05/14/2015)
Coworker of mine is finishing his IB analyst stint and starting his PE job this summer. He asked me if I was aware of any helpful book recommendations for further familiarizing himself with debt and any relevant topics on capital structure. He currently works in an industry group that essentially never has to deal with debt. Obviously, he already has a basic understanding of debt, its role in a capital structure, implications on valuation, etc. from PE recruiting and general knowledge of corporate finance and valuation.
Is anyone in a similar position and have any recommendations? For those who have already switched over to PE, any books or practitioner guides you would recommend? Anything focused more on topics applicable to PE, i.e. not books on just credit stat analysis/how to trade debt, would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks.
sent PM.
Interested as well @Etaractic
I'd refer you to the materials referenced below. Moyer's book on distressed is good for a slightly more in depth understanding (albeit somewhat market oriented) than the Cravath summary and is a short read (150 pgs). If you want to get a real understanding of why certain legal concepts are important as a PE investor i'd point to you McGraw Hill's Art of Distressed M&A (500 pgs) -- this outlines distressed valuation, investment methods and most importantly case law (treasure trove of info for dealing with piercing-veil lawsuits and the like for GPs).
Conceptual Overview: http://www.cravath.com/files/Uploads/Documents/Publications/3234772_1.P…
Beginner: Distressed Debt Analysis by Moyer
Advanced: The Art of Distressed M&A: Buying, Selling and Financing Troubled Companies by Nesvold
Thanks for the suggestions. Already provided him a digital copy with Moyer's book (FYI, feel free to PM me if anyone is looking for a copy). Appreciate the other recommendations. I actually have never heard of The Art of Distressed M&A, so I plan on checking that out for myself as well.
This is solid advice.
May be a little high level for him but the CS Guide to Leveraged Finance is good.
Thanks for this. Would you happen to know where a copy can be found please?
Book Recommendation - Book on PE (Originally Posted: 08/08/2013)
Can someone recommend a book on Private Equity that a college kid should read who is looking at PE for the future
The Intelligent Investor, although seen as outdated when referred to in the context of the public market, still definitely holds weight in the private markets. I asked a partner at a PE firm (family friend) a similar question a few years back, and he told me to go to Benjamin Graham first to get some background on value investing. Just my .02
If you want something more sensational and exciting, I recommend "King of Capital: The Remarkable Rise, Fall, and Rise Again of Steve Schwarzman and Blackstone" by David Carey. There is some rational in there for why they pursue certain investments (like the cyclical German chemical company), but mostly it's just awesome and badass. Finished it in a day.
If you're into distressed debt this book is great: Buyout and Distressed Private Equity: Performance and Value Creation by Christian Graf
Barbarians at the Gate is pretty good, if you can get through the historical backround part at the begininng.
I would reccomend how to win friends and influence people.
^How to Win Friends and Influence People is a great read!
well, what kind of PE are you interested in?
LBO and Distressed mostly. Thanks for the answers.
Where can you pick it up? I didn't find it on barnes and noble or amazon.
MM Private Equity - Preparing for the Job? (Originally Posted: 04/11/2016)
I am starting a full-time private equity position in SF soon (middle-market fund). Is there anything that I should do to prepare myself for the job to make sure I start off on the right foot? Or is everything just on the job learning?
One thing I think you could do is ask for their model template, some completed models, and some completed investment memos on their existing portcos. This shows you are being proactive and want to get up to speed on the businesses you will be working with. One caveat: some shops will look favorably upon this whole others may view it as you creating work. You need to feel this out given your interactions with these people.
Reference Book Recs for PE Associates (Originally Posted: 06/27/2010)
Starting as an associate at a middle market private equity firm in a couple of months. They are transaction agnostic (buyouts, recaps, and growth equity).
What are some reference book recommendations to have in my library at the office? - I also don't have a finance/accounting degree, so the technical book recommendations can be basic. I only have two years of ibanking experience.
In addition to technical books, if you have any book recommendations on improving business/finance writing, I would appreciate it.
Thanks for your help.
managing by the numbers the art of m&a
anything less dense than the art of M&A?
i feel like there is so little out there written for PE professionals.
i am going to get managing by the numbers.
How to prepare myself for PE (Originally Posted: 04/21/2014)
Hey guys.
I had a quick question in regards to getting into PE. My goal is to one day run my own PE firm. I would attempt to get into PE right away. But I am currently a Engineer with no real financial background other than watching bloomberg, trading and self-learning.
When I looked into some of the top PE Managing Partners I realized that many of them have a MBA from a top school. So I decided to model myself after them by preparing for my GMAT.
Do you guys have any other advice as to a path to PE? Or any alternatives to going back to school ?
How do you know you want to "run a PE firm" given you have zero experience with it?
Reading material helpful for PE analyst at mid-market firm (Originally Posted: 10/18/2016)
Does anyone have suggestions for reading material that would be helpful for a mid-market PE analyst?
I'm a first year analyst at a mid-market European firm. This is my first job out of undergrad and as is usually the case with small firms, there is no formal training. I'm learning day-to-day but would like to supplement that with relevant reading material in my free time. Any suggestions would be appreciated.
Thanks
Always ask your colleagues for such suggestion. Ask for TTS/AMT training. The book by Joshua Rosenbaum is pretty basic but a good start nonetheless.
Thanks for the response, Zen
I skimmed through the Rosebaum book and agree that it is basic, and also deals mainly with valuation of public companies. I was hoping to find something more targeted towards private companies, or MM PE in general.
I'm leaning towards "Value-creation in Middle Market Private Equity" by Lanier. After reading some of his short articles posted online, it seems like this may be the most relevant. Would love to hear some other input.
Best consulting / PE books (Originally Posted: 07/17/2010)
I am starting in the fall as a PE associate (pre mba) and was curious what are the best books to read before starting (I did banking the last 2 years).
I have been told that what is most important is the daily exercise of evaluating businesses, and was told to read consulting books re the soft side of business evaluation (i.e., SWOT analysis, etc).
Any recommendations?? Thank you
there is NO way none of you do not have a decent response. Would very much appreciate 2 seconds of effort
Michael Porter strategy books
I would read some of the private equity books that the Wiley Finance series has (can be found on Amazon). Also, grab a few college books on marketing and try to obtain any industry research reports you can from equity research/consulting groups, etc.
that was my "2 seconds of effort"...
What did you find was the most useful in your preparation? Did you check out any of the suggestions? I'd be interested to find out what you thought was the best source.
Does anyone with PE experience have any suggestions from your own perspective in ramping up?
books about PE working experience (Originally Posted: 10/10/2012)
Could anyone recommend some books about the working experience related to PE?
There are recommended readings under each Industry in our FAQ section.
Direct link: //www.wallstreetoasis.com/faq/what-should-i-read-if-i-am-interested-in-pr…
Barbarians at the gate has like KKR and a few other PE firms in it. If u don't already know, its about a LBO
PE prep for consultants (Originally Posted: 11/13/2013)
Currently a first year consultant at an MBB, and looking to get into PE (not Capstone etc.), but on the investment side. Haven't had any IBD experience. My question is - over the next three to four months, how do I best prepare myself for PE interviews?
Would appreciate any textbook recommendations for modeling etc. + general advice.
Thanks!
If you can, have some due diligence experience. It's not required, though (I had a bunch of interviews and an offer without it).
In terms of modeling if you have a consulting background and are interviewing at funds where that's the norm, it's less about being able to execute a modeling test (I didn't have any) but knowing what's important to PE investors in the context of a case interview.
Things to have some sense of, for example: What does a back of the envelope DCF look like? How do you calculate free cash flow and why does it matter? Why is EBITDA important?
Not to say anyone will ask you these questions in the abstract, but questions like these were integrated into many of the cases I saw. However, more of the cases revolved around doing due diligence on a given target, rather than calculating potential returns, which should be more familiar.
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