Most Helpful Customer Reviews
11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Truly Written for C-Level Executives, April 26, 2008
This review is from: Lessons from Private Equity Any Company Can Use (Memo to the CEO) (Hardcover)
When I ordered this book, I didn't realize how small and short it would be, so I was a bit caught off guard when it arrived. However, it was densely written and to the point, and chock full of good advice for executives looking to groom their company for a sale in 3-5 years at a multiple of its current value.
The authors state up front that there are 6 key principles or steps in maximizing the value of your company and proceed to do a short chapter on each of these principles, with 1 or 2 anecdotes to illustrate their points. Some of their ideas are probably easier said than done, such as defining the strategy or reshuffling the Board of Directors to be more useful. The overall message of relentless focus, goal-orientation and accountability, high rewards for the management teams who succeed all are spot on.
The only downside to the book, in my view, is that it is very focused on large companies rather than how to take those principles downward to a smaller scale. Saving $3 billion in G&A costs is impressive but not very relevant to most prospective readers of the book. Some examples from mid-market companies would have made it more relatable. Some parts are also quite technical, when they get into managing debt-equity ratios, structures of the Board, etc. so I don't think the book will really be relevant to middle management types either.
Overall I would recommend it for anyone in an executive position at a mid- to large-scale enterprise who is looking to turnaround a business and flip it, or who is anticipating getting private equity investments and wants to better understand in advance what the PE guys are probably thinking.
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8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Business Practices of PE Players for Non-PE Players, May 19, 2008
This review is from: Lessons from Private Equity Any Company Can Use (Memo to the CEO) (Hardcover)
Two business experts from Bain & Company believe that successful practices adopted by PE players can be applied to different industries around the world. After having abundant consulting experience of working with PE players, they maintain that there are at least six deceptively simple rules in which PE players set a concrete and inescapable benchmark for corporate performance.
Like other non-PE players, the key objective of PE players is to keep generating attractive returns for their investments within a specified time. Nowadays Gadiesh and MacArthur conclude that top quartile PE players adopt six rules to build values in their investments instead of relying mainly on asset stripping and debt loading exercises. The six rules encompass every pre- and post-acquisition step from due diligence, business renovation, and performance management to talent retention, capital allocation, and corporate culture. At first blush, senior executives from non-PE players might argue that ownership and business models of PE players are not homogeneous so that their business practices cannot be fully applicable to non-PE players. However, the six rules, particularly performance acceleration, working capital management, and talent management, are all that non-PE players should learn from if they intends to build value for their investments.
This book is not too lengthy but covers many successful practices done by well-known PE players such as Bain Capital and Charles Bank Capital Partners, Centre Partners, Newbridge Capital, CVC Asia Pacific, Crown Castle, and Cerberus. It is highly recommended for senior executives who are not too familiar with business practices of PE players and for those who are getting lost in the clouds or being handcuffed by tradition-bound and antiquated systems while spearheading operational performance improvement for their firms.
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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
Consultants stating the obvious, November 10, 2009
This review is from: Lessons from Private Equity Any Company Can Use (Memo to the CEO) (Hardcover)
I was disappointed by the book. It mostly restates the key perceptions about how PE firms create value, and praises CEOs of multinationals who have adopted these principles. Could not help walking away with the feeling of consultants having written a book to sell their services to CEOs who want to do the same.
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