AØKA08093U Private Equity – From Venture Capital to Buyouts (F)

Volume 2015/2016
Education

Elective at MSc in Economics
The course is part of the Financial line in Economics symbolized by "F".

Content

The course is a joint University of Copenhagen Department of Economics and Faculty of Law graduate course introducing students to key aspects of private equity. The course is designed to be of interest to students of law, economics, finance and public policy, emphasizing the interrelationships between academic disciplines within this field.

Learning Outcome

To obtain a 12 grade students should demonstrate a thorough understanding of micro and/or macro aspects of private equity in broad terms and/or a thorough understanding of a particular topic within the overall framework of the course.
On a macro level, students should demonstrate a thorough understanding of industry drivers, such as the growth in savings deployable, the effects of corporate governance and regulation on the attractiveness of private versus public capital as well public policy issues such as transparency, any systemic risks associated with financial innovation and in particular the trading and transfer of risks and taxation.

On a micro level, students should demonstrate a thorough understanding of the structures and workings of private equity firms, in particular on the screening, investment, value creating and exit cycle, on capital structure issues as related to the stage and risk profile of portfolio companies, on the control and agency issues related to governance as well as of the contracts used to regulate principal/agent relations and to ensure alignment of interest, both in relation to limited partners and general partners and in relation to portfolio companies.

As this is a multi disciplinary course, students may select a topic of their own choosing within law, economics, finance and public policy for their project work. Students may choose to submit a paper with a more narrow focus than described above and achieve a 12 grade based on a thorough understanding of the subject matter in question and an overall understanding of the course material

Required reading
Private Equity as an Asset Class, Ch 1-8, SPH, Guy-Fraser-Sampson, Wiley Finance, 2010, 180pages.
Capital Structure Stewart C. Meyers, Journal of Economic Perspectives, spring 2001, 21p.
A Survey of Corporate Governance, JG, Andrei Schleifer, Robert W. Vishny , TheJournal of Finance, Vol. 52, No.2. (Jun., 1997), pp.737-783, 46p.
Private Equity, Thomas Krüger Andersen, DJØF 2015 Ch 1-6, 235 p.

A total of 554 pages.

Suggested supplementary material
The Economics of the PrivateÉquity Market, George W. Fenn and Nellie Liang, Dallas FED, 72p.
Relevant legal acts. Public acts.

Formal training at a bachelor and/or master level and practical experience in finance, business strategy, corporate governance and contract law would be helpful. Students should have en interest in financial markets, management, innovation, regulation and contracts seen mainly from a practical perspective. Basic theories and concepts from finance and law will be introduced during the course to facilitate learning for students of economics and finance as well as for law students.
The course is structured as follows:
Part 1 - introduction to Private Equity (8 weeks of 3 hours lectures)
• Faculty: Soren Hovgaard (Econ), Thomas K. Andersen (Law)
• Guest speakers from the venture capital and private equity industries, advisors and regulatory authorities. Previous speakers have included; Industry experts from Nordic Capital, Axcel, EQT, Northzone Ventures, ATKearney, SEB Enskilda, Accura Law Firm, BCG, Altor, ATP PEP, Nordea and McKinsey & Co.
Part 2 - independent written assignment (approx. 8 weeks)

Timetable and classroom:
For time and classroom please press the link under "Se skema"(See schedule) at the right side of this page (15E means Autumn 2015, 16F means Spring 2016).

You can find the similar information partly in English at
https:/​/​skema.ku.dk/​ku1516/​uk/​module.htm
-Select Department: “2200-Økonomisk Institut” (and wait for respond)
-Select Module:: “2200-F16;Private Equity”
-Select Period: “Forår/Spring – Weeks 4-29”
-Press: “ View Timetable”
  • Category
  • Hours
  • Lectures
  • 35
  • Preparation
  • 70
  • Project work
  • 170
  • Total
  • 275
Credit
10 ECTS
Type of assessment
Written assignment, 8 weeks
The exam is an independent written project assignment during approx. 8 weeks.

Econ students (10 ECTS points): Take home paper (format rules for the economic seminars apply. For detailed requirements, see the Student Handbook.)

Law students (10 ECTS points): Take home paper (max. 35,100 characters; front page, index and list of references excluded).

General rules applicable for both Econ and Law students:
Papers should be submitted in English or Danish.
Aid
All aids allowed
Marking scale
7-point grading scale
Censorship form
No external censorship
Exam period

Deadline of the project: May 26, 2016 at 12.00 23.59 (11.59 PM)

For enrolled students more information about examination, exam/re-sit, rules etc. is available at the student intranet for Examination (English) and student intranet for Examination (KA-Danish).

Re-exam

Deadline of the project: August 11, 2016 at 12.00 AM

If only a few students have registered for the re-exam, the exam might change to an oral exam including the date for the exam, which will be informed  by the Examination Office.

Criteria for exam assesment

The student must in a satisfactory way demonstrate that he/she has mastered the learning outcome of the course.