Family-Firm Buyouts, Private Equity, and Strategic Change

Abstract

When no suitable family successor can be identified, private family firm owners may opt for a MBO or MBI. We explore the strategic orientation of former private family firms pre- and post-MBO/I. We utilize a unique hand-collected representative sample of 104 MBO/Is located across Europe. Greater scope for efficiency gains and growth/expansion was found in cases where the founder was present at time of buy-out, where no managers with equity stakes or non-executive directors were employed pre-buy-out and where the private equity investor and management were involved in succession planning.