1、原文 ： Family-Firm Buyouts, Private Equity, and Strategic Change The European private equity and buyout market has grown in prominence over recent years. The Centre for Management Buyout Research (CMBOR， 2008) has shown that the annual number of management buyouts rose from l212 in 1998 to 1,436 by th
2、e end of 2007. Buyouts of family firms represent one of the most important features of this market, with the number of deals increasing from 45 in 1998 to 559 in 2007 and the combined value from 11.2 billion to 18,3 billion over the same period. In 2007 family firms contributed 38% of the number and
3、 11% of the value of the whole European buyout market. Management buyouts (MBO) and buy-ins (MBI) thus represent an important succession option in family firms. They also provide an important deal source for private equity firms. Yet, while much attention in the private equity and buyout market has
4、been on large public-to-private transactions, the family buyout part of the market is not well understood (Cumming, Siegel and Wright ， 2007). The focus in large public-to-private transactions and divisional buyouts has been on the resolution of incentive and control problems through the introductio
5、n of new ownership and governance structures in the form of managerial equity ownership, commitment and pressure to service debt, and in many cases ownership and active involvement by private equity firms (Wright and Bruining ， 2008). In contrast, the typical family firm has traditionally been assum
6、ed to be owned and managed by a concentrated group of family members where the firms objectives are closely linked to family objectives. Families typically do not regard their firms as mere economic units pursuing the goal of profit maximization. Instead, families also strive for noneconomic goals.
7、As a result, the tightness of grip of a family over its firm adds an important dimension to the analysis of the strategies of family firms. The changes occurring on the buyout of a family firm may lead to changes in goals and strategies compared to the previous ownership regime, and these strategic
8、changes may influence firm survival or failure. The change in strategy is motivated by one of the following two factors； first, the firm may have been underperforming and new strategies must be adopted to correct this (efficiency buyout). Second, the new owners will have the freedom to pursue their
9、own interests in terms of business direction and/or diversification (growth/expansion buyout). The presence of founders, shareholding non-family managers, or nonfamily non-executive directors on the board may have different effects on the buyout process and on the business strategies adopted before
10、and after the buyout. Changes in strategy are also due to the ownership and governance of the firm before the buyout as well as the new financial structure and the need to meet resultant servicing costs. In light of these issues, the purpose of this article is twofold； 1. We provide an overview of d
11、evelopments in the family-firm buyout market. Specifically, we examine trends in the number and value of deals, deal sizes, share of the total buyout market, employment, and the role of private equity. We use CMBORs unique database comprising the population of 30,000 European buyouts as the source f
12、or this analysis. 2. We undertake a detailed study of strategic changes in family firms as a result of a buyout. Specifically, we examine whether changes in the strategy of former private family firms are affected by the ownership and governance of the firm before the buyout. These issues are examin
13、ed using a novel hand-collected representative questionnaire survey of 104 private family firms across Europe which had a buyout funded by private equity between1994 and 2003. Family firms provide a constant and abundant source of potential targets for incumbent managers and private equity (PE) comp
14、anies. Buyouts of family firms enable the resolution of succession problems and. By catalyzing entrepreneurial activity, can improve the operating efficiency of the firm and enable growth. This section presents an overview of trends in this important part of the buyout market, focusing on number and
15、 value of deals, deal sizes, share of the total buyout market, employment, and the role of private equity. All data refer to buyout transactions of family firms unless otherwise stated, and all data refer to Europe unless otherwise stated. In 2007, 559 family-firm buyouts and buy-ins were recorded b
16、y CMBOR across Europe, amounting to a total value of 18.3 billion. There had been a dip in buyout activity between 2000 and 2003, in line with a somewhat weaker overall buyout market during that period. Since then buyout activity in family firms has recovered, and the 2007 figure was a new record by
17、 number and value. A comparison of trends by country reveals that the increase in deal numbers has been relatively uniform across most of Europe. Over the past 10 years, buyout activity in terms of number of transactions has increased in most national markets. The total value of family-firm buyouts
18、has fluctuated on an annual basis in many of the European markets, and no clear pattern has emerged. However, due to the rise in number of this type of buyout, the total value reached a new record in 2007. The average deal size of buyouts of family firms is much lower than the average deal size of a
19、ll transactions. The trend in the average deal size of family buyouts over the past 10 years shows that these deals have remained at a relatively constant level of about26 m, while average deal size for all buyouts has increased significantly, from 36 m in 1998 to almost 120 million in 2007. This in
20、creasing gap reflects the major growth in large public-to-privates, divestments, and secondary buyouts across Europe in recent years. Family firms have been a constant and abundant source of buyouts. Between 1998 and 2007, about 29% of all buyouts in Europe were family-firm transactions. However, th
21、ese deals represented only 11% of the total value of all buyouts over this period, further underlining the fact that buyouts in family firms are generally much smaller than other types of buyouts. Over the last 10 years, the proportion of the buyout market accounted for by family-firm deals decrease
22、d until 2002 (23.2%) and started to rise again in 2004, reaching 38.3% of deal numbers by the end of 2007. The proportion of the total market accounted for by family-firm buyouts based on total value also saw a sharp decline from 1998 to 2000. Since then the value of family-firm buyouts has fluctuated between 10 %and 15% of total market value. An international comparison of the 10-year averages of the share of the buyout
