Co-taught by Tim Jenkinson, Professor of Finance at the Saïd Business School and Humphrey Battcock, a Director of Advent International, the private equity course opens up one of the more complex areas of financial management. Private equity investments are illiquid and hard to value and those who manage them often become engaged in the decision-making of the companies involved, all of which makes practical skills as important as theoretical knowledge.
Assessed through four case studies, two spreadsheet assignments and a group presentation, the course demands that students constantly apply the material they have been presented.
The role of private equity firms has come under increasing media and government scrutiny over the past few years. In June 2007, Tim Jenkinson gave evidence to a House of Commons Treasury Committee meeting on governance, taxation and transparency within the UK private equity industry.