Lecture Talk - What is private equity?

Private equity investment funds command increasing wealth and reach in the U.S. economy, yet the scope and role of PE remain ambiguous.

A new working paper from Charlie Eaton, Albina Gibadullina, Marie-Lou Laprise, and Adam Goldstein assembles systematic data to provide a descriptive anatomy of PE’s shifting strategies and ownership patterns in the U.S. since the 1980s.

In this talk, Eaton will present the authors’ theory of PE through an analysis of four interconnected roles — “corporate raider,” “main street invader,” “shadow owner,” and “monopoly-builder” — and the changing balance among them over time.

He’ll show that the industry’s traditional role has been replaced with corporate raiders that specialize in restructuring publicly traded firms.

Today’s PE investors increasingly focus on agglomeration and rationalization of already private “main street” companies. PE-owned companies also increasingly stay private through longer hold times and sales to other PE funds.

Ultimately, PE’s expansion has helped spread the logic of shareholder value maximization to ever-more corners of the economy, but without the relative transparency and regulation of publicly traded companies.

This event will be held in person and please try to register for the event in advance, since they might not have enough walk-in open seating.

Event Website Link:

https://events.berkeley.edu/events/event/332309-what-is-private-equity