Value Creation in Leveraged Buyouts

Over the last years, buyout activity has risen dramatically - especially in Europe - sparking intense public discussion about financial investors' role and the value they can add to companies and the overall economy.


Based on a dataset of more than 3,000 leveraged buyout transactions from the U.S. and Europe, including performance data, Nicolaus Loos analyses how financial investors create economic value through their investments. Using quantitative analysis, he shows that various exogenous factors with respect to timing, industry, public market as well as deal specific factors can statistically be related to a buyout deal's performance. He also provides evidence of a "GP effect" in leveraged buyouts, i.e. that certain characteristics of a Private Equity firm and its investment professionals as well as a firm's buyout strategy approach and certain buyout target characteristics are important success factors.