COURSE NUMBER: EWMBA237.11

COURSE TITLE: Private Equity Leverage Buyouts

UNITS OF CREDIT: 1

INSTRUCTOR: Christian Puscasiu

E-MAIL ADDRESS: cpuscasiu@berkeley.edu

CLASS WEB PAGE LOCATION: http://bspace.berkeley.edu

MEETING DAY(S)/TIME: Sundays 9/21 & 10/26, 9:00AM-5:00PM

Please note the unorthodox format of this course, which meets all day on two Sundays (9/21 & 10/26). You must attend both sessions in their entirety in order to earn a passing grade.

PREREQUISITE(S): Core Finance and basic Excel skills.

CLASS FORMAT: Combination lectures, cases, and group exercises.

REQUIRED READINGS: The course will center on a CIM (Confidential Information memorandum) and additional notes and articles.

BASIS FOR FINAL GRADE: Participation in discussion and group assignment.

ABSTRACT OF COURSE'S CONTENT AND OBJECTIVES:

This class will focus on leveraged buyouts (LBOs), a component of the larger private equity industry, and will offer an introduction and overview to all aspects of leveraged buyouts. The course will cover all activities performed by investment professionals in an LBO fund, such as deal sourcing, transaction structure, financing, legal negotiation, and portfolio management. Additionally, the course will discuss private equity fund structure and current issues in private equity. As such, the course is a primer for those interested in exploring a career with a private equity fund. Given the far-reaching impact of private equity, the course is also recommended for students interested in careers in investment banking, commercial banking, and management consulting as the content discussed will offer a deeper understanding of the issues facing their clients in the midst of a financial transaction. The course will also be relevant to those interested in investment management as alternative investments, including private equity, are often a significant portion of asset allocation decisions. Finally, the class will be applicable to students interested in entrepreneurial management as they will face many similar issues as private equity investors (financing choices, corporate governance) and may ultimately choose to partner with or sell to a private equity fund.

The course will be taught in two all-day Sunday sessions. By the end of the course, students should have a working knowledge of the tools and approaches employed by private equity professionals in making LBO investments, as well as a strong understanding of the private equity industry structure and current issues.

BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH:

Mr. Puscasiu has been a private and public equity investor for more than 15 years as founder and as Partner across all different stages of a company’s life from seed investing to growth equity to leveraged buyouts, IPOs and public block investing and finally turn-arounds and restructurings. He is the founder and general partner of Three Bridges Ventures, a seed fund focusing on early enterprise platform technology companies. Prior to that he lived in Germany and was a Partner at EQT, one of Europe’s premier investment firms with over 15 billion EUR under management, having led the German team of the Opportunity Fund and the Munich team of the Expansion Capital fund. Before EQT, Chris co-founded Prides Capital, which focused on small and mid-cap public and private investing, and led its private equity practice. He started his investment career at AEA Investors in New York and also spent a few years at Blum Capital in San Francisco.

Among his more notable investments, he led Blum Capital’s investment in CB Richard Ellis, the world’s largest commercial real estate services company which involved becoming the largest public shareholder, then taking the company private in a public proxy contest, acquiring its largest competitor and then taking the company public again. Mr. Puscasiu also led the refinancing and restructuring of Pegasus Solutions, the world’s leading hospitality IT company and was the interim-CEO of Sanuwave, a spin-out from Healthtronics Inc. At EQT we led the financing of EQT’s largest public buyout of Securitas Direct right during the financial crisis and also conceived of and led the consolidation of nine digital media agencies to form United Digital Group in Germany. He also had to restructure a number of companies to ensure their survival including SmarteCarte, TitanX and Strauss Innovation.  As an active “angel” investor in early technology companies, he currently serves as the Chairman of System Insights and as a board member of 21Diamonds and Contacts+.

Prior to his investment career, Mr. Puscasiu was a consultant with Bain & Company in San Francisco, a software engineer with Geoworks in Berkeley, and an entrepreneur. He received an MBA with distinction from Harvard Business School and a Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science. He’s a former member of the Cal tennis team and an avid marathon and ultra-marathon runner.