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The New Tycoons by Jason Kelly
Private Equity as an Asset Class by Guy Fraser-Sampson is a great intro to private equity. Very approachable and not too expensive.
What exactly are you trying to learn about? PE as a concept or PE as a job?
Read every post by @Dingdong08"
Thanks.
OP, what's your current level of knowledge and what do you want to know? A general high level overview like what is PE? (check out stuff on here, M&I and a few other quick searches), different strategies, how funds work, how to break into the industry, etc? I've seen the book mentioned above and it may be good. I've honestly never read a book about PE.
I've invested in tech related co's for nearly 20 years but don't know how to do a lot of tech: can I upload/attach a pdf to a post? I recently found a detailed explanation that someone emailed me a while ago about how a fund actually works.
Thanks for responding.
If you could upload that pdf that would be great, but I'm not sure if we can do that. Is there any way you could link me to it?
I have a pretty good general idea of what Private Equity is, what I want to know are the various strategies and differences in valuation techniques (in relation to other industries, preferably investment banking because that's where a bulk of my current knowledge lies.) From what professors have told me and from my own readings, Private equity in itself is notoriously opaque (emphasis on "Private") so a lot of it really depends on the firm but any pointers would be helpful.
I've heard that the book Barbarians at the Gate is a good reading on Private Equity because it features KKR, so that's definitely on my reading list.
I think Barbarians at the Gate is a good read on top of King of Capital.
PE Reading (Originally Posted: 06/22/2008)
I'll start at a MM IB in early July. Since my firm is smaller than a BB, I don't think the exit opportunities will be as plentiful. Between now and my start date (about three weeks away), I want to read up on Private Equity (currently I know very little about PE). My end goal is to land a great PE job after two or three years at my MM IB. Does anyone have an opinion about any of the following books? Have you read any of them? Which do you think will prove to be the most useful? Any advice on books about PE or any advice into how to get to a PE job after working in IB (in general) will be much appreciated. Thank you.
Private Equity: History, Governance, and Operations
Lessons from Private Equity Any Company Can Use
Vault Private Equity Career Guide
Private Equity as an Asset Class
Venture Capital and Private Equity: A Case Book
The Glocap Guide to Getting a Job in Private Equity: Behind the Scenes into How PE Firms Hire
a few weeks ago, i wrote the following post on analystforum. i think this directly answers your question. refer to the following(http://www.analystforum.com/phorums/read.php?1,783090,783990); excerpted below.
"Re: Best PE/VC/Hedge Fund books? Posted by: numi (IP Logged) [hide posts from this user] Date: June 12, 2008 11:30AM
For more academic purposes, I'd recommend "Applied Mergers & Acquisitions" or "Valuation: Mergers, Buyouts and Restructuring." However, LBO's are surprisingly rare in literature, and a number of books on the topic had come out a while ago (pre-1990). That said, these books are the most comprehensive ones on the transaction process, and if you have the time, dedication and money, these are great textbooks to have.
If you're just looking to learn anecdotally about LBO's, you might consider reading "Barbarians at the Gate: The Fall of RJR Nabisco." This is more of a novel, but definitely a fun read. You get a pretty intriguing and amusing sense of all the personalities involved, and the book pretty much documents a mega-buyout gone wrong (and probably the least successful buyout in KKR's history).
If you're interested broadly in the LBO investment process from execution to exit, the Lerner casebook on Private Equity and Venture Capital is highly recommended. The case reviews do tend to be anecdotal in nature, but it's interesting to learn how different deals in different industries were consummated, as well as the various issues and complications that can come up during a private equity investment.
Finally, if you just want to better understand the key considerations of an LBO investor, and more importantly how they can be applied more generally to any other company in order to accelerate growth and create value, I highly recommend "Memo to the CEO: Lessons from Private Equity Any Company Can Use" by Orit Gadiesh (Chairman of Bain & Co.). I just started reading this a couple nights ago; it's a very quick read and is extremely practical. It obviously has its roots in the private equity investment criteria, but you can definitely see how the fundamental qualities stressed in the book are also important traits to assess in public companies. As someone who used to cover public companies but recently moved to private equity, I think it's very relevant and useful in helping someone become a "smarter investor" (as well as a better executor, for those of you that aspire to be C-level personnel sometime down the line.)
Most of the reading I did prior to getting into private equity involved the Lerner book, as well as a bunch of investment banking training guides on LBO and M&A modeling. Probably the most useful thing I did though was to read the Wall Street Journal every day (when big buyouts were actually happening), and also speak with my friends in the PE industry to learn about the deals. But all the books I mentioned above are pretty useful...unfortunately there isn't a catch-all book on leveraged buyouts, but if you're serious about the field, you'll read everything good that you can get your hands on.
Hope this helps."
thanks for the contributions numi.
numi: is watching the movie a good substitute for reading Barbarians at the Gate? I'm pressed for time and based on you post, i think I might buy the casebook and work through it...maybe the vault guide will also help me, so I'm thinking about that too.
Let me know about Barbarians at the Gate.
Books or reading materials to prep for PE? (Originally Posted: 01/31/2012)
Hey all,
Having spent ~3yrs in banking, I completely appreciate that there's nothing one could possibly read that will make them a rockstar in private equity (or any area of finance for that matter). That said, has anyone anyone come across anything that was in helpful to them, especially at the beginning of their PE career?
Also (random), as a banker, would reading consulting case studies help me out at all? I'm thinking it could help in thinking about businesses from an operational perspective as opposed to our typical banking approach.
Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated - sorry if this is a bit of a repost.
The only book I've found to be remotely helpful would be "Competition Demystified." The book isn't about PE, but rather about business and competitive advantages. It should prove helpful when you're looking to evaluate business models, a skill that is often underdeveloped in investment banking analysts.
Good PE Books (Originally Posted: 06/11/2010)
Good PE Books,
I recently began reading "The new financial capitalist" it is a historical account of KKR's rise, including a very detailed account of their deal structures.
I was wondering what other books of this sort are there, I have read books like "Barbarians at the Gate" but that is not what I'm looking for, I want a more serious detailed account.
Any suggestions?
I highly recommend http://www.amazon.com/PE2theMax-Maximize-Skills-Participation-Teamwork/…
[quote=swagon]I highly recommend http://www.amazon.com/PE2theMax-Maximize-Skills-Participation-Teamwork/…] Looks like a good read, I think I'll pick up my gym shorts from the dry cleaners and give it a go.
merchants of debt - its about KKR as well
Any other recommendations, are there any other good private equity books out there? (Besides, merchants of debt and the new financial capitalist)
Thanks
Buyout by Rickertsen is worth your time.
Venture Capital and Private Equity a Casebook cases, may not be similar to the others ones mentioned above. But i found it a good read.
http://www1.unisg.ch/www/edis.nsf/wwwDisplayIdentifier/3052/$FILE/dis30…
Good PE books (not novels, but more technical details) (Originally Posted: 04/13/2011)
Can someone recommend some good PE books that focus more on how to get a deal done, analysis of past deals on why some turn out to be profitable and some are not, also some technical aspect as well.
I have searched the forum already, but most books are novals, which is not what i am looking for.
Thanks alot
what is a noval?
novel
Buyout.
Lev McFinnigan
It's dated now, but Barbarians at the Gate is unparalleled in its detail.
Distressed Debt Investing is a good book for thinking about capital structures and how to look at leveraged companies, which is obviously very important for PE.
Which author are you referring to? I didn't see a book with the exact title "Distressed Debt Investing". Thanks.
sorry, I meant "novel"....worked too hard yesterday during the day and was already tired when i wrote the above thread....
What is Lev McFinnigan?
Thanks
Sorry, meant Distressed Debt Analysis by Moyer. http://www.amazon.com/Distressed-Debt-Analysis-Strategies-Speculative/d…
If your school has an MBA programme, email some of the tutors and ask to look at/go through some case studies with them over a coffee, etc.
lern two spel
definitely check out Josh Lerner's "Venture Capital and Private Equity: a Casebook." He's the legendary HBS professor in the space with knowledge out the ass. It's technical, offers real-life, intl cases, goes into returns, raising and structuring funds, and different valuation strategies. The book is a painful tome you'll never get through, but it's nice to pic-and-choose ad hoc to get kernels of knowledge you want/need in real time.
Could anyone recommend a good book on PE deal structuring?
also in the book I recommended ...
Does anybody know "A Practical Guide to Private Equity Transactions (Law Practitioner Series)" I read through the ToC on Google-Books and it seems interesting...
Possibly you'll find that pretty easy online and could judge by yourself. But I'm not sure ;)
I think it's a quite interesting book, but didn't read through it by myself for now. Anyways, it's relevant for practice, that's why I like it.
Books about Life in Private Equity (Originally Posted: 09/01/2011)
Hey WSO'ers,
In January this year, someone on this forum suggested buying a particular PE eBook. I bought it reluctantly, but wow, it was such a refreshing change after countless textbooks.
In particular, I liked that it wasn't just formulae and theory. It was about life in PE and how PE works. For example, it would say something like, "the most important thing in dealmaking is the perception of closing the value gap; if you want to achieve this, use these tools, etc..." So I guess it used theory to solve practical problems.
Anyway, I was wondering if anyone knows of any other books (or eBooks or articles) where people at PE firms talk about how they do deals and the tricks of the trade. Most literature on PE is so dry these days. I'm hungry to read more personal accounts.
Any favourite PE books like this?
Best. Chuck.
What is the name of this particular e-book you read? Sounds interesting.
Thanks.
Also curious to read the book you read. Sorry, I can't help with your question though.
Sorry guys, I'm having a slow day:
http://www.theprivateequiteer.com/private-equity/
It was originally suggested in a WSO thread about learning PE in 24 hours.
I read King of Capital and enjoyed it. Might not be what you're looking for but its a good read about Blackstone and KKR.
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