Conclusion

Abstract

The objective of this work is to contribute to the understanding of decisions, styles and preferences in relation to exit processes for European buyout investments. A focus of the analysis has been set on decision determinants regarding exit processes, critically evaluating concepts and theories established and proven in studies which concentrate almost exclusively on the Northern American venture capital market. Additionally, relationships between the characteristics of buyout investors and their exit behaviour have been examined. While section 2 provided an introduction to the private equity industry, the leveraged buyout segment and also outlined basics about divestments, section 3 established the theoretical foundation for the empirical analysis and laid out a detailed review of relevant scientific studies. Section 4 dwelled into aspects to be considered at the various stages of typical exit processes and comparatively assessed different divestment alternatives such as trade sales and secondary buyouts, IPOs, buybacks, and recapitalisations. Building upon the first four sections, part 5 presented the empirical study, which is mainly based on a detailed dataset for a sample of 56 buyout investors.