32763 - Private Equity and Structured Finance

Learning outcomes

The purpose of the course is to provide students with the financial instruments to manage the riskiness underlying the financing of high growth potential firms within the context of private equity, merchant banking and buyouts. A special focus is reserved to the riskiness underlying the entire investment cycle (VC cycle) employed by investors, which includes the following phases: fundraising; selection and evaluation; business and financial planning; negotiation; deal structure; financing; operation, and exit. At the end of the course, students learn the financial instruments employed by venture capitalists to effectively address the problems of asymmetric information and riskiness involved in private equity financing.

Course contents

This course is INTEGRATED AND STRICTLY CONNECTED with the LABORATORY "DUE DILIGENCE LAB".  

THE ENTIRE COURSE IS WORTH 9 CREDITS AND IT IS COMPOSED OF: PRIVATE EQUITY COURSE (6 CREDITS) AND DUE DILIGENCE COURSE (3 CREDITS).

The entire course is designed especially for the second year of the second cycle degree program in Business and Administration. To follow this course you need to have acquired advance knowledges in Accounting, financial analysis and cost management, corporate finance and corporate valuation. 

 

The private equity course will focus on the entire Venture Capital Cycle followed by the financial intermediaries. The venture capital cycle includes the following steps:

• fundraising & structure of funds;
• covenants;
• business plan
• due diligence (selection and target evaluation; critical evaluation of business plan from the VC perspective)
• valuation of target firms with various methods (Venture Capital Method; Real Option)
• negotiation  and deal structure (various contracting provisions);
• financing and exit rights;
• operation;
• exit.

 

 

Readings/Bibliography

A special course package will be provided to attending students. Please come to the first class of the course for all details.

The recommended book is the following: Lerner, J., Leamon, A., Hardymon, F. "Venture Capital, Private Equity, and the Financing of Entrepreneurship", 2012, Wiley.

Teaching methods

The course is interactive and welcome students willing to partake to class discussions and simulations. You will have to implement the due diligence of  various venture capital project and to present in class various due diligence reports

Assessment methods

Written project work  (of about 30 pages) based on a theme related to financing innovation or Venture Capital Cycle.

Attendant students will develop the necessary competences to write this project during the course.  

Non attending students need to follow carefully the themes and the framework explained in the Book suggested for this course.

Please note that the assessment methods can be modified depending on the ongoing pandemic emergency.

Office hours

See the website of Andi Duqi