COURSE NUMBER: MBA236L.1

This course is dual-listed with the Evening-Weekend MBA Program.

COURSE TITLE: PE Value Creation: Buyouts, Growth Equity and Emerging Markets

UNITS OF CREDIT: 2 units

INSTRUCTORS: Sam Snyder and Peter Goodson

E-MAIL ADDRESSES: snyder@greyrockcapitalgroup.com; goodson@haas.berkeley.edu

CLASS WEB PAGE LOCATION:  bCourses

MEETING DATES: Monday Evenings 6 pm to 9:30 pm- first session September 8^th and nine following dates TBA

PREREQUISITE(S): Core Finance

CLASS FORMAT: Combination of lectures, cases, interactive discussion and guest speakers

REQUIRED READINGS: Text, articles and cases

BASIS FOR FINAL GRADE: Projects case write-ups and class participation 

CAREER FIELD:  A vastly expanding career opportunity is emerging in PE-owned or controlled businesses, the course is a primer for this type of prospect. Remuneration and wealth building opportunities trump most alternatives. Students pursuing entrepreneurship, turnaround leadership, and corporate executive management as well as finance and non-finance majors looking at careers in private equity, investment banking, investment management and management consulting will find the course directly applicable to their jobs.  PE firms and their portfolio companies represent the largest clients of investment banking and consulting firms today as well as one of the largest pools of opportunity for entrepreneurs, turnaround specialists, and executive management. 

ABSTRACT OF COURSE'S CONTENT AND OBJECTIVES: The course will focus on how the private equity industry creates value for its investors through careful selection of its investments, financial structuring, and performance motivated governance and effecting operational improvements. What are the investment attributes that make for an attractive investment? How are potential investments valued and bid? What are the key value levers? Additionally the course explores the human factors: how do I convince others in deal negotiations? Sellers frequently mislead, how do I find out the real story before I buy? The human factor is significant. What KPI’s and incentives will drive value and performance maximizing potential?

The course is focused primarily on management buyout deals, the largest category of private equity transactions.  In addition, strategies of value creation and risk mitigation in growth capital minority investments and in emerging markets are revealed. The course will also chronicle the disruptive nature and evolution of private equity and expose the issues that face both the LP investor and the General Partner.

 Students will learn how to evaluate investment opportunities from a private equity perspective as well as explore the proven value creation recipes of the top performers. Students will make a simulated presentation to an investment committee on a prospective acquisition of a company - reviewing the investment thesis, valuation, financing, business plan, potential returns and exit considerations.

BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES: 

Sam Snyder is a Principal at Greyrock Capital Group responsible for transaction origination, underwriting, and portfolio company management primarily in the Western US.  Prior to joining Greyrock, Sam was an Associate at Goldman Sachs in the Technology, Media, and Telecommunications investment banking division helping corporate clients with financings, mergers and acquisitions, and anti-raid defense.  Before Goldman, Sam worked as a Senior Research Analyst at Renaissance Capital responsible for global coverage of initial public offerings (IPOs).  Sam currently serves as a board member of Allen Technologies, a provider of patient interactive systems to hospitals, Bentec Medical, a manufacturer of silicone-based medical devices and components, Blast Deflector, Inc., a provider of jet blast deflection structures to the airport infrastructure sector, MWA Intelligence, a provider of ERP software to the copy dealer industry, Ogle School, the largest operator of beauty schools in Texas, Paleteria La Michoacana, a leading manufacturer of Hispanic-influenced ice cream bars called “paletas”, and Solair Group, a leading fabricator of maintenance tooling and ground support equipment for commercial aircraft.  

Sam earned an MBA with Honors from the Haas School of Business and an AB in History from Princeton University.  Sam is also a CFA charter holder. 

Peter Goodson is a pioneer in the private equity discipline as an early stage partner at Clayton, Dubilier & Rice. One of the first management buyout firms founded in 1978, the firm has purchased and transformed performance at over 70 large companies with a return of 53% since inception. Among the more than $100 billion worth of acquisitions through which CD&R assisted managements in enhancing value or replaced management to run the businesses themselves are prominent examples such as Lexmark (the former IBM Information Products business), the Uniroyal-Goodrich Tire Company and Hertz Rental Car. To highlight leadership capability, operating executives at the firm include former CEO’s Jack Welch of GE and Sir Terry Leahy of Tesco. In emerging markets Mr. Goodson serves as a senior advisor to Tata Capital’s PE funds and is a longtime advisor to the first PE firm in Vietnam Mekong Capital.

Prior to Clayton, Dubilier & Rice, Peter was a Manager Director at Kidder Peabody & Co., where he founded the M&A Group at the age of 27. He personally participated in over 800 corporate assignments. Mr. Goodson was chosen by his partners to negotiate the $600 million sale of Kidder to General Electric, which he did, setting a record for the highest relative price paid for an investment bank on record.

Peter has taught as Haas for the last nine years. He has also taught or lectured at Harvard, Wharton, Kellogg, Tuck, Stanford, NYU Stern, and Columbia. He was awarded the Earl F. Cheit Outstanding Teaching award by the students of Haas School of Business several times He was also elected a fellow of Dartmouth’s Tuck Center for Private Equity and Entrepreneurship and holds the position of Distinguished Fellow at INSEAD in its Global Private Equity Initiative and Emerging Market Institute sponsored by the Singaporean Government.

For a flavor of what the Peter Goodson’s classroom is like tap the following link for an article on his M&A class. His style for this PE class will be much the same. http://newsroom.haas.berkeley.edu/article/master-art-deal-making-and-creating-value