Cyril Demaria 
Introduction to Private Equity 

Introduction to Private Equity is a critical yet grounded
guide to the private equity industry. Far more than just another
introductory guide, the book blends academic rigour with practical
experience to provide a critical perspective of the industry from a
professional who has worked at many levels within the industry,
including insurance, funds of funds, funds and portfolio companies.

The book looks at private equity from the point of view of the
individual or the business. How is a private business valued? How
is the acquisition transaction processed? What are the due
diligence issues that should be considered before moving ahead? A
valuable insight to a rather opaque market.

Introduction to Private Equity covers the private equity
industry as a whole, highlighting its historical development in
order to put its recent development into perspective. The book
covers its organization, governance and function, then details the
various segments within the industry, including LBO, Venture
Capital, Mezzanine Financing, Growth Capital and beyond. Finally,
it offers a framework to anticipate and understand its future
developments.

It provides a balanced perspective on the current corporate
governance challenges which are affecting the industry and draws
perspective to understand the evolution of the sector, following
one of its major crises.

Table of Content

Foreword.

Acknowledgments.

About the Author.

Introduction.

A Moving Target.

A Consubstantial Lack of Information.

Benign Neglect, Malign Consequences.

Knowing the Devil to Circumvent It.

PART I WHAT IS PRIVATE EQUITY?

1 Private Equity as an Economic Driver: An Historical
Perspective.

1. Pooling interests to identify and exploit sources of
wealth.

2. Championing entrepreneurship.

Conclusion: an attempt at definition.

2 Modern Private Equity – A French Invention?

1. USA: the foundry of modern private equity.

The strict separation of public policies and public
financing.

The separation of public endeavours and private efforts; the
subsequent support of the former for the latter.

2. Europe: adapting a successful model or creating its own?

Conclusion: Emerging markets, building castles on sand?

PART II THE PRIVATE EQUITY ECOSYSTEM.

3 Private Equity: A Business System Perspective.

1. We are all investors in private equity.

2. Organisation and governance of private equity funds.

3. Measuring performance, managing risks and optimising
returns.

4. Pitfalls and challenges.

Conclusion.

4 The Universe of Investment.

1. Venture capital: financing company creation.

2. Growth capital: financing companies’ expansion.

3. Leveraged Buy-Out: financing companies transmissions.

4. Other interventions in private equity.

Conclusion.

5 The Process of Investment: a Matter of Trust and Mutual
Interest.

1. Step 1: Preliminary analysis.

2. Step 2: Valuation.

3. Step 3: Negotiating.

4. Step 4: Structuring.

5. Step 5: Complementary due diligences.

6. Step 6: Transaction.

7. Step 7: Monitoring and exit.

Conclusion.

PART III PRIVATE EQUITY IN TEENAGE TIME: TREND SETTING, FADS
AND RESPONSIBILITIES.

6 Private Equity Evolutions: Trends or Buzzes?

1. Is private equity going mainstream?

2. Is private equity (still) creating value?

3. Private equity: between bubbles and crashes.

Conclusion.

7 Private Equity and Ethics: a Culture Clash.

1. Greed.

2. Destruction.

3. Philanthropy.

4. Transparency.

5. Confidentiality and self-regulation.

Conclusion.

General Conclusion–Private Equity Today and
Tomorrow.

1. Core target: manage the volatility of performances.

2. The only valid leitmotiv: long-term thinking.

3. The IMPACT of the fair market value.

4. A long-term trend: the attractiveness of private equity.

5. Private equity: future victim of its own success?

6. The impact of a better knowledge of private equity.

Bibliography

Glossary.

Index.

About the author

CYRIL DEMARIA is a Partner at Tiaré Investment Management AG, Zurich and Manager of Pilot Fish, a small business angels fund. Previously, he was a Portfolio Manager at Maaf Gestion, where he managed private equity assets in excess of $60 million, and Head of Corporate Development at Externall in Paris. Cyril began his career at Pyramid Technology Ventures, a hybrid venture capital and fund of funds firm dedicated to IT and software investments. He is also Associate Professor of Finance at ESSCA, where he lectures on private equity, LBO, money and finance and international finance, and Lecturer at EADA and ZHAW. He regularly consults as an expert for the Swiss, European and French private equity and venture capital associations and provides training in private equity topics to the Association Française des Investisseurs en Capital (AFIC) and the Institut d’Analyse Financière. Cyril holds a BA in Political Sciences, a Masters in Geopolitics applied to Money and Finance, a Masters in European Business Law, and a Diploma from HEC. He is currently a doctoral candidate at the University Sankt-Gallen.