Articles Tagged with Private Equity

AdobeStock_312736469-300x200There are many ways to capitalize a new business. Angel financing, venture capital, and private equity are popular methods of raising capital, but it is important for business owners to understand the difference. These different methods are appropriate at different stages of your business life cycle. Successful entrepreneurs know when and how to use them effectively. 

Stages of the Business Life Cycle

Before a business starts any operations or has a single customer, it will need startup capital. It is at this beginning when angel financing (or “seed investors”) comes in. These initial investments of “seed money” allow entrepreneurs to take their initial idea and turn it into reality. The earliest phase of the business cycle, however, is also the riskiest. There is a high chance that angel financiers will lose their entire investment. But angel financing typically has the highest returns on investment to compensate for this risk.

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The Securities and Exchange Commission has, in recent months, been closely monitoring private equity and venture capital fund managers in order to identify conflicts of interest. The more investments a particular manager oversees, the more potential there is that he or she will encounter a conflict for two (or more) investments. An experienced San Jose corporate attorney can help your business enact practices which will help your fund managers identify and resolve conflicts of interest as early as possible. This will save your business the time and expense of administrative sanctions, SEC hearings, and civil liability – all of which are potential ramifications for any violation of the fiduciary duty of loyalty to act in the best interest of each fund a manager manages.

The Problem Area of Related Transactions

When a venture capital or private equity funds manager engages in transactions closely related to the fund’s investors or portfolio companies, a potential conflict of interest is created. Common examples include co-investment, or when an investor, fund manager, or another one of the manager’s funds has the opportunity to invest in one of the fund’s portfolio companies under terms and conditions which are different from those of the initial investment. Co-investment can also present a problem when a fund manager has an investment opportunity which should be presented to two or more different funds and must determine which fund gets priority at a given time. Fund managers can also face conflicts of interest when divesting a fund of its assets. In such a case, many managers oversee other funds which would benefit from the purchase of the divested assets, but this would create a conflict between the interests of the selling fund (which must maximize the sales price) and the purchasing fund (which must minimize the sales price). When an affiliated transaction arises between a fund manager, its affiliates, the fund, or an individual investment, there is a potential that the fund manager will face a conflict between the interests of the initial fund investment and the affiliated transaction. The affiliated transaction must be carefully assessed for all potential sources of conflict.