Private Equity

 
Private equity consists of equity securities and are not publicly traded by companies and considered an asset class. Investments for private equity generally involve one or the other of capital investment into an operating company or the acquisition of an operating company. Capital is obtained normally from institutional investors for private equity. There are various kinds of private equity and the term even has different connections in different countries.

Private equity commonly includes the following:
� Leveraged buyouts
� Venture capital
� Growth capital
� Distressed investments
� Mezzanine capital
� Secondaries
� Other strategies

Leveraged buyouts
Leveraged buyouts involve a financial sponsor without committing all the capital required agreeing to an acquisition.

Venture capital
Venture capital is equity investments in young companies for start up, development or expansion of a business. It is usually associated with new technology, new marketing concepts or new products not yet proven.

Growth capital
Growth capital is usually minority investments in more mature companies desiring to expand, restructure, enter new markets or finance a large acquisition. Growth capital does not change control of the business.

Distressed and Special Situations
Distressed or special situations refer to investments in equity or debt securities for financially stressed companies.

Hedge funds employ a variety of methods of distressed investment including active trading of loans and bonds issued by distressed companies.

Mezzanine capital
The most junior portion of a company’s capital structure that is senior to the company’s common equity referred to as debt that is subordinated or preferred equity securities is Mezzanine capital.

Secondaries

Investments into already established private equity assets are considered secondary investments.

Other strategies

Other strategies that can be considered private equity or a closely related market include:
� Real Estate
� Infrastructure
� Energy and Power
� Merchant Banking

Real Estate is usually the riskier investment looking more like a leveraged buyout rather than a traditional real estate investment.

Infrastructure investments are in various public works including bridges, tunnels, toll roads, airports, and public transportation.
Energy and Power investments are made in a variety of companies rather than assets that produce and sell energy.
Financial institutions negotiated private equity investment with securities that are unregistered both publicly and privately held companies is negotiated private equity merchant banking.
Early history and the development of venture capital
The founding of a couple of venture capital firms in 1946 was the beginning of modern private equity.   Today some large venture and private equity firms are at the center of many large and important transactions.
Typically private equity services are only available to institutional or very high net worth individual investors who are considered accredited investors.