Private equity lending has become an integral part of the financial landscape, providing opportunities for businesses and investors alike. Clearlease Financial Group understands the complexities involved in private equity and aims to simplify this often misunderstood concept. In this guide, we will delve into the fundamentals of private equity lending, its benefits, and the key considerations to keep in mind.

What is Private Equity?

Private equity refers to the investment of capital into privately-held companies or assets that are not publicly traded on stock exchanges. These investments are typically made by private equity firms, which pool funds from investors and use them to acquire ownership stakes in promising enterprises. Clearlease Financial Group, as a private equity lender, works with both businesses seeking funding and investors looking for attractive opportunities.

Benefits of Private Equity Lending:

1. Growth Capital: Private equity lending provides businesses with access to substantial amounts of capital that can be utilized to expand operations, launch new products, or enter new markets. This influx of capital can accelerate growth and help companies realize their full potential.
2. Strategic Support: Private equity firms often bring more than just financial backing to the table. They offer expertise, industry knowledge, and a network of contacts, which can prove invaluable in guiding businesses toward success. Clearlease Financial Group takes a partnership approach, actively collaborating with businesses to achieve their strategic objectives.
   
3. Long-Term Perspective: Unlike traditional bank loans or other short-term financing options, private equity lending offers a longer investment horizon. This aligns the interests of the investor and the business, fostering a commitment to long-term value creation and sustained growth.

Key Considerations:

1. Due Diligence: Businesses seeking private equity funding must be prepared to undergo a thorough due diligence process. Private equity firms will assess various aspects, including financial performance, market potential, management team, and growth prospects. Clearlease Financial Group conducts meticulous due diligence to ensure informed investment decisions.
   
2. Ownership and Control: When accepting private equity funding, businesses should carefully consider the trade-off between relinquishing partial ownership and gaining access to capital and strategic support. Clearlease Financial Group values collaboration and aims to establish mutually beneficial relationships that respect the autonomy of the businesses they partner with.
   
3. Exit Strategy: Private equity investments typically have a predetermined exit strategy in place. This could involve selling the company, going public through an initial public offering (IPO), or recapitalizing the business. Clearlease Financial Group helps businesses navigate this critical phase by offering guidance and expertise in achieving a successful exit.

Private equity lending through Clearlease Financial Group presents a valuable avenue for businesses seeking growth capital and investors aiming to diversify their portfolios. By understanding the basics of private equity, recognizing the benefits it offers, and considering the key factors involved, both businesses and investors can make informed decisions. Clearlease Financial Group’s expertise and collaborative approach make them a trusted partner in the private equity landscape, ensuring a win-win outcome for all stakeholders involved.

What Does Private Equity Mean?

Equity capital that is not quoted on a public exchange. Private equity consists of investors and funds that make investments directly into private companies or conduct buyouts of public companies that result in a delisting of public equity. Capital for private equity is raised from retail and institutional investors and can be used to fund new technologies, expand working capital within an owned company, make acquisitions, or strengthen a balance sheet.

The majority of private equity consists of institutional investors and accredited investors who can commit large sums of money for long periods of time. Private equity investments often demand long holding periods to allow for a turnaround of a distressed company or a liquidity event such as an IPO or sale to a public company.

Private equity, in finance, is an asset class consisting of equity securities in operating companies that are not publicly traded on a stock exchange.

A private equity investment will generally be made by a private equity firm, a venture capital firm, or an angel investor. Each of these categories of investor has its own set of goals, preferences, and investment strategies; each however provides working capital to a target company to nurture expansion, new product development, or restructuring of the company’s operations, management, or ownership.

Among the most common investment strategies in private equity are: leveraged buyouts, venture capital, growth capital, distressed investments, and mezzanine capital. In a typical leveraged buyout transaction, a private equity firm buys majority control of an existing or mature firm. This is distinct from a venture capital or growth capital investment, in which the investors (typically venture capital firms or angel investors) invest in young or emerging companies, and rarely obtain majority control.

Simple example

A private equity fund, ABC Capital II, borrows $9bn from a bank (or other lender). To this, it adds $2bn of equity – money from its own partners and from limited partners (pension funds, rich individuals, etc.). With this $11bn, it buys all the shares of an underperforming company, XYZ Industrial (after due diligence, i.e. checking the books). It replaces the senior management in XYZ Industrial, and they set out to streamline it. The workforce is reduced, some assets are sold off, etc. The objective is to increase the value of the company for a fast sale. The stockmarket is experiencing a bull market, and XYZ Industrial is sold two years after the buy-out for $13bn, yielding a profit of $2bn. The original loan can now be paid off with interest of say $0.5bn. The remaining profit of $1.5bn is shared among the partners. Taxation of such gains is often minimal. Note that part of that profit results from turning the company round, and part results from the general increase in share prices in a buoyant stockmarket. The latter is often the greater component, but of course shares are not guaranteed to go up!

Notes:

The lenders (the people who put up the $11bn in the example) can insure their loans against default, at a cost, by selling credit derivatives, including credit default swaps (CDSs) and collateralised loan obligations (CLOs), to other institutions, such as hedge funds.

Often the loan/equity ($11bn above) is not paid off after sale but left on the books of the company (XYZ Industrial) for it to pay off over time. This can be advantageous since the interest is typically offsettable against the profits of the company, thus reducing, or even eliminating, tax.