Philip Leslie and Paul Oyer at Stanford GSBhave concluded in this working paper what I think most investment bankers sort of already knew. But it is certainly useful to confirm.
We document that PE-owned companies provide higher managerial incentives to their top management: CEOs have almost twice as much equity, 10% lower salary, and more cash compensation than their counterparts at comparable public corporations. We also find some evidence that PE ownership is related to improvements in operational efficiency and profitability. However, any differences between PE-owned companies and public companies disappear over a very short period (one to two years) after the PE-owned firm goes public.
http://bdti.mastertree.jp/f/tecwzp09
pleslie@stanford.edu
pauloyer@stanford.edu
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