IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/sae/entthe/v33y2009i1p213-239.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Agency, Strategic Entrepreneurship, and the Performance of Private Equity–Backed Buyouts

Author

Listed:
  • Miguel Meuleman
  • Kevin Amess
  • Mike Wright
  • Louise Scholes

Abstract

Agency theory has focused on buyouts as a governance and control device to increase profitability, organizational efficiency, and limited attention to growth. A strategic entrepreneurship view of buyouts incorporates upside incentives for value creation associated with growth as well as efficiency gains. In this paper, we develop the complementarity between agency theory and strategic entrepreneurship perspectives to examine the performance implications for different types of buyouts. Further, we study how the involvement of private equity (PE) firms is related to the performance of the post–buyout firm. These issues are examined for a sample of 238 PE–backed buyouts in the UK between 1993 and 2003. Implications for theory and practice are suggested.

Suggested Citation

  • Miguel Meuleman & Kevin Amess & Mike Wright & Louise Scholes, 2009. "Agency, Strategic Entrepreneurship, and the Performance of Private Equity–Backed Buyouts," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 33(1), pages 213-239, January.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:entthe:v:33:y:2009:i:1:p:213-239
    DOI: 10.1111/j.1540-6520.2008.00287.x
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1111/j.1540-6520.2008.00287.x
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1111/j.1540-6520.2008.00287.x?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Choonwoo Lee & Kyungmook Lee & Johannes M. Pennings, 2001. "Internal capabilities, external networks, and performance: a study on technology‐based ventures," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 22(6‐7), pages 615-640, June.
    2. Alchian, Armen A & Demsetz, Harold, 1972. "Production , Information Costs, and Economic Organization," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 62(5), pages 777-795, December.
    3. David Citron & Ken Robbie & Mike Wright, 1997. "Loan Covenants and Relationship Banking in MBOs," Accounting and Business Research, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 27(4), pages 277-294.
    4. Malone, Stewart C., 1989. "Characteristics of smaller company leveraged buyouts," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 4(5), pages 349-359, September.
    5. Douglas Cumming & Sofia Johan, 2007. "Advice and monitoring in venture finance," Financial Markets and Portfolio Management, Springer;Swiss Society for Financial Market Research, vol. 21(1), pages 3-43, March.
    6. Mike Wright & Luc Renneboog & Tomas Simons & Louise Scholes, 2006. "Leveraged Buyouts in the U.K. and Continental Europe: Retrospect and Prospect," Journal of Applied Corporate Finance, Morgan Stanley, vol. 18(3), pages 38-55, June.
    7. Margarethe F. Wiersema & Julia Porter Liebeskind, 1995. "The effects of leveraged buyouts on corporate growth and diversification in large firms," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 16(6), pages 447-460.
    8. Manigart, Sophie & De Waele, Koen & Wright, Mike & Robbie, Ken & Desbrieres, Philippe & Sapienza, Harry J. & Beekman, Amy, 2002. "Determinants of required return in venture capital investments: a five-country study," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 17(4), pages 291-312, July.
    9. Michael C. Jensen, 2010. "The Modern Industrial Revolution, Exit, and the Failure of Internal Control Systems," Journal of Applied Corporate Finance, Morgan Stanley, vol. 22(1), pages 43-58, January.
    10. Mike Wright & Robert E. Hoskisson & Lowell W. Busenitz & Jay Dial, 2001. "Finance and management buyouts: Agency versus entrepreneurship perspectives," Venture Capital, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 3(3), pages 239-261, July.
    11. Richard Harris & Donald S. Siegel & Mike Wright, 2005. "Assessing the Impact of Management Buyouts on Economic Efficiency: Plant-Level Evidence from the United Kingdom," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 87(1), pages 148-153, February.
    12. Bottazzi, Laura & Da Rin, Marco & Hellmann, Thomas, 2008. "Who are the active investors?: Evidence from venture capital," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 89(3), pages 488-512, September.
    13. Mike Wright, 1998. "Venture Capital and Private Equity: A Review and Synthesis," Journal of Business Finance & Accounting, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 25(5&6), pages 521-570.
    14. Jensen, Michael C. & Meckling, William H., 1976. "Theory of the firm: Managerial behavior, agency costs and ownership structure," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 3(4), pages 305-360, October.
    15. Sebastian Green, 1992. "The Impact Of Ownership And Capital Structure On Managerial Motivation And Strategy In Management Buy‐Outs: A Cultural Analysis," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 29(4), pages 513-535, July.
    16. Zahra, Shaker A., 1995. "Corporate entrepreneurship and financial performance: The case of management leveraged buyouts," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 10(3), pages 225-247, May.
    17. Steven N. Kaplan & Antoinette Schoar, 2005. "Private Equity Performance: Returns, Persistence, and Capital Flows," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 60(4), pages 1791-1823, August.
    18. Holmstrom, Bengt & Milgrom, Paul, 1991. "Multitask Principal-Agent Analyses: Incentive Contracts, Asset Ownership, and Job Design," The Journal of Law, Economics, and Organization, Oxford University Press, vol. 7(0), pages 24-52, Special I.
    19. Mike, Ken Wright Robbie, 1998. "Venture Capital and Private Equity: A Review and Synthesis," Journal of Business Finance & Accounting, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 25(5‐6), pages 521-570, June.
    20. Bull, Ivan, 1989. "Financial performance of leveraged buyouts: An empirical analysis," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 4(4), pages 263-279, July.
    21. Eric D. Darr & Linda Argote & Dennis Epple, 1995. "The Acquisition, Transfer, and Depreciation of Knowledge in Service Organizations: Productivity in Franchises," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 41(11), pages 1750-1762, November.
    22. Thomas Hellmann & Manju Puri, 2002. "Venture Capital and the Professionalization of Start‐Up Firms: Empirical Evidence," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 57(1), pages 169-197, February.
    23. John Easterwood & Anju Seth, 1993. "Strategic Restructuring In Large Management Buyouts," Journal of Applied Corporate Finance, Morgan Stanley, vol. 6(1), pages 25-37, March.
    24. Shaker A. Zahra & Igor Filatotchev, 2004. "Governance of the Entrepreneurial Threshold Firm: A Knowledge‐based Perspective," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 41(5), pages 885-897, July.
    25. Lichtenberg, Frank R & Siegel, Donald, 1990. "The Effect of Ownership Changes on the Employment and Wages of Central Office and Other Personnel," Journal of Law and Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 33(2), pages 383-408, October.
    26. Steven N. Kaplan & Jeremy C. Stein, 1993. "THE EVOLUTION OF BUYOUT PRICING AND FINANCIAL STRUCTURE (OR, WHAT WENT WRONG) IN THE 1980s," Journal of Applied Corporate Finance, Morgan Stanley, vol. 6(1), pages 72-88, March.
    27. Richard Makadok, 2003. "Doing the right thing and knowing the right thing to do: why the whole is greater than the sum of the parts," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 24(10), pages 1043-1055, October.
    28. repec:bla:jfinan:v:44:y:1989:i:4:p:953-70 is not listed on IDEAS
    29. Baum, Joel A. C. & Silverman, Brian S., 2004. "Picking winners or building them? Alliance, intellectual, and human capital as selection criteria in venture financing and performance of biotechnology startups," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 19(3), pages 411-436, May.
    30. Gorman, Michael & Sahlman, William A., 1989. "What do venture capitalists do?," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 4(4), pages 231-248, July.
    31. Marvin B. Lieberman, 1989. "The learning curve, technology barriers to entry, and competitive survival in the chemical processing industries," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 10(5), pages 431-447, September.
    32. Dirk De Clercq & Harry J. Sapienza, 2005. "When Do Venture Capital Firms Learn from Their Portfolio Companies?," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 29(4), pages 517-535, July.
    33. Lockett, Andy & Murray, Gordon & Wright, Mike, 2002. "Do UK venture capitalists still have a bias against investment in new technology firms," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 31(6), pages 1009-1030, August.
    34. Delmar, Frederic & Davidsson, Per & Gartner, William B., 2003. "Arriving at the high-growth firm," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 18(2), pages 189-216, March.
    35. Cumming, Douglas & Siegel, Donald S. & Wright, Mike, 2007. "Private equity, leveraged buyouts and governance," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 13(4), pages 439-460, September.
    36. Fama, Eugene F & Jensen, Michael C, 1983. "Separation of Ownership and Control," Journal of Law and Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 26(2), pages 301-325, June.
    37. Robert E. Hoskisson & Michael A. Hitt, 1988. "Strategic control systems and relative r&d investment in large multiproduct firms," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 9(6), pages 605-621, November.
    38. David J. Teece & Gary Pisano & Amy Shuen, 1997. "Dynamic capabilities and strategic management," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 18(7), pages 509-533, August.
    39. Hans Bruining & Mike Wright, 2002. "Entrepreneurial orientation in management buy-outs and the contribution of venture capital," Venture Capital, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 4(2), pages 147-168, April.
    40. Kevin Amess, 2003. "The Effect of Management Buyouts on Firm–level Technical Inefficiency: Evidence from a Panel of UK Machinery and Equipment Manufacturers," Journal of Industrial Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 51(1), pages 35-44, March.
    41. Elango, B. & Fried, Vance H. & Hisrich, Robert D. & Polonchek, Amy, 1995. "How venture capital firms differ," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 10(2), pages 157-179, March.
    42. Russell W. Coff, 1999. "When Competitive Advantage Doesn't Lead to Performance: The Resource-Based View and Stakeholder Bargaining Power," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 10(2), pages 119-133, April.
    43. Busenitz, Lowell W. & Barney, Jay B., 1997. "Differences between entrepreneurs and managers in large organizations: Biases and heuristics in strategic decision-making," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 12(1), pages 9-30, January.
    44. Kaufman, Allen & Englander, Ernest J., 1993. "Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co. and the Restructuring of American Capitalism," Business History Review, Cambridge University Press, vol. 67(1), pages 52-97, April.
    45. Margaret A. Peteraf & Jay B. Barney, 2003. "Unraveling the resource-based tangle," Managerial and Decision Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 24(4), pages 309-323.
    46. William S. Schulze & Michael H. Lubatkin & Richard N. Dino & Ann K. Buchholtz, 2001. "Agency Relationships in Family Firms: Theory and Evidence," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 12(2), pages 99-116, April.
    47. Steven N. Kaplan & Jeremy C. Stein, 1993. "The Evolution of Buyout Pricing and Financial Structure in the 1980s," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 108(2), pages 313-357.
    48. James J. Chrisman & Jess H. Chua & Reginald A. Litz, 2004. "Comparing the Agency Costs of Family and Non–Family Firms: Conceptual Issues and Exploratory Evidence," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 28(4), pages 335-354, July.
    49. Dimov, Dimo P. & Shepherd, Dean A., 2005. "Human capital theory and venture capital firms: exploring "home runs" and "strike outs"," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 20(1), pages 1-21, January.
    50. Howorth, Carole & Westhead, Paul & Wright, Mike, 2004. "Buyouts, information asymmetry and the family management dyad," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 19(4), pages 509-534, July.
    51. Ippolito, Richard A & James, William H, 1992. "LBOs, Reversions and Implicit Contracts," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 47(1), pages 139-167, March.
    52. Shaker A. Zahra & Harry J. Sapienza & Per Davidsson, 2006. "Entrepreneurship and Dynamic Capabilities: A Review, Model and Research Agenda," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 43(4), pages 917-955, June.
    53. Muscarella, Chris J & Vetsuypens, Michael R, 1990. "Efficiency and Organizational Structure: A Study of Reverse LBOs," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 45(5), pages 1389-1413, December.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Iioka, Yasutake & Yamada, Yuji, 2023. "The evolution of capital structure and debt governance: Evidence from private equity-backed companies in Japan," Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 79(C).
    2. Scholes, Louise & Hughes, Mathew & Wright, Mike & De Massis, Alfredo & Kotlar, Josip, 2021. "Family management and family guardianship: Governance effects on family firm innovation strategy," Journal of Family Business Strategy, Elsevier, vol. 12(4).
    3. Vladimiro Marini & Massimo Caratelli & Gian Paolo Stella & Ilaria Barbaraci, 2022. "Is corporate governance of private equity targets more effective for risk mitigation?," Journal of Management & Governance, Springer;Accademia Italiana di Economia Aziendale (AIDEA), vol. 26(3), pages 781-811, September.
    4. Chen, Xiaoyang & Wei, Yifan & Wang, Milo Shaoqing, 2024. "Institutional logics and organizational filters: Differential responses to innovation and environmentalism in China’s cleantech sector," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 172(C).
    5. Hammer, Benjamin & Mettner, Sven & Schweizer, Denis & Wünsche, Norbert, 2023. "Management buyouts in times of economic policy uncertainty," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 52(C).
    6. Alexander Hoffmann & Dominik K. Kanbach & Stephan Stubner, 2024. "Entrepreneurship through acquisition: a scoping review," Management Review Quarterly, Springer, vol. 74(4), pages 1981-2012, December.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Fabio Bertoni & María Ferrer & José Martí, 2013. "The different roles played by venture capital and private equity investors on the investment activity of their portfolio firms," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 40(3), pages 607-633, April.
    2. Alperovych, Yan & Amess, Kevin & Wright, Mike, 2013. "Private equity firm experience and buyout vendor source: What is their impact on efficiency?," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 228(3), pages 601-611.
    3. Andrew Metrick & Ayako Yasuda, 2011. "Venture Capital and Other Private Equity: a Survey," European Financial Management, European Financial Management Association, vol. 17(4), pages 619-654, September.
    4. Charlie Weir & Peter Jones & Mike Wright, 2015. "Public to private transactions, private equity and financial health in the UK: an empirical analysis of the impact of going private," Journal of Management & Governance, Springer;Accademia Italiana di Economia Aziendale (AIDEA), vol. 19(1), pages 91-112, February.
    5. Cumming, Douglas & Siegel, Donald S. & Wright, Mike, 2007. "Private equity, leveraged buyouts and governance," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 13(4), pages 439-460, September.
    6. Renneboog, Luc & Vansteenkiste, Cara, 2017. "Leveraged Buyouts : A Survey of the Literature," Discussion Paper 2017-015, Tilburg University, Center for Economic Research.
    7. Mirjam Knockaert & Mike Wright & Bart Clarysse & Andy Lockett, 2010. "Agency and similarity effects and the VC’s attitude towards academic spin-out investing," The Journal of Technology Transfer, Springer, vol. 35(6), pages 567-584, December.
    8. Dirk Engel & Joel Stiebale, 2014. "Private equity, investment and financial constraints: firm-level evidence for France and the United Kingdom," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 43(1), pages 197-212, June.
    9. Gottschalg, Oliver & Berg, Achim, 2005. "Understanding value generation in buyouts," HEC Research Papers Series 824, HEC Paris.
    10. Tåg, Joacim, 2010. "The Real Effects of Private Equity Buyouts," Working Paper Series 851, Research Institute of Industrial Economics.
    11. Yan Alperovych & Georges Hübner, 2013. "Incremental impact of venture capital financing," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 41(3), pages 651-666, October.
    12. Yoshikawa, Toru & Phan, Phillip H. & Linton, Jonathan, 2004. "The relationship between governance structure and risk management approaches in Japanese venture capital firms," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 19(6), pages 831-849, November.
    13. Aurélie Sannajust & Alexander Groh, 2023. "Pioneering management buy-out and entrepreneurial finance research: Mike Wright’s research legacy," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 60(1), pages 1-35, January.
    14. Jain, Bharat A. & Jayaraman, Narayanan & Kini, Omesh, 2008. "The path-to-profitability of Internet IPO firms," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 23(2), pages 165-194, March.
    15. Amess, Kevin & Stiebale, Joel & Wright, Mike, 2015. "The impact of private equity on firms' innovation activity," DICE Discussion Papers 184, Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf, Düsseldorf Institute for Competition Economics (DICE).
    16. Dawson, Alexandra, 2011. "Private equity investment decisions in family firms: The role of human resources and agency costs," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 26(2), pages 189-199, March.
    17. Croce, Annalisa & Martí, José & Murtinu, Samuele, 2013. "The impact of venture capital on the productivity growth of European entrepreneurial firms: ‘Screening’ or ‘value added’ effect?," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 28(4), pages 489-510.
    18. Gottschalg, Oliver & Zollo, Mauricio, 2006. "Interest alignment and competitive advantage," HEC Research Papers Series 823, HEC Paris.
    19. Renneboog, L.D.R. & Simons, T., 2005. "Public-to-Private Transactions : LBOs, MBOs, MBIs and IBOs," Other publications TiSEM 3b76799c-591c-4d22-b126-a, Tilburg University, School of Economics and Management.
    20. Patzelt, Holger & zu Knyphausen-Aufseß, Dodo & Fischer, Heiko T., 2009. "Upper echelons and portfolio strategies of venture capital firms," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 24(6), pages 558-572, November.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:sae:entthe:v:33:y:2009:i:1:p:213-239. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: SAGE Publications (email available below). General contact details of provider: .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.