Course curriculum

    1. Course instructors

    2. What is private equity?

    3. Private vs. public

    4. Other investors in private businesses

    1. The role of private equity firms

    2. How private equity firms make money

    1. Raising capital for a fund

    2. The structure of private equity funds, investors and portfolio companies

    3. Insights into the fundraising process from a senior PE fundraiser

    4. Overview of the role of funds lawyers

    1. The steps involved in making investment decisions

    2. Due diligence on investment targets

    3. Valuing potential investments

    1. Different types of funding

    2. The use of debt / leveraged buyouts

    3. Equity investments

    1. Different types of acquisition

    2. Auction processes

    3. Management buy-ins / buy-outs

    4. Due diligence

    5. Key transaction documents

    6. Competition clearance

    7. Signings and completions

    1. The role of investment banks on private equity transactions

    2. Overview of the role of lawyers on private equity transactions

    3. What trainees do on private equity transactions

    1. Corporate governance

    2. Incentivising portfolio company management teams

    3. How the value of portfolio companies is increased

    4. A private equity investor's experience of increasing the value of portfolio companies

    5. The role of lawyers in helping PE firms to manage portfolio companies

    1. Exiting investments

    2. A private equity investor's experience of exits

Private equity

  • 33 lessons
  • 2.5 hours of video content

Why is this the best introduction to private equity?

In short, because the course was created by senior professionals with decades of combined experience working on the legal, financial and commercial aspects of private equity transactions.

  • The most comprehensive online course specifically built to demystify private equity for aspiring commercial lawyers.

  • Our instructors have worked as investors at leading global private equity firms, in fundraising roles, and as lawyers in both the private equity and leveraged finance teams of top global law firms.

  • We cover the private equity fundamentals in a concise, easily-digestible way. No prior knowledge needed!

  • We've created animated videos to explain complex concepts more clearly and improve your learning experience.

  • We've included content from our best-selling Commercial Law Handbook and Training Contract Handbook.

Instructors

Our selection of experts from across the private equity ecosystem

PE and VC investor Yash Zaveri

Yash started his career in the M&A team at JP Morgan, before transitioning to an investor role at leading international private equity firm Cinven. He subsequently worked as a partner and managing director at investment fund Flash Ventures, before leaving to found his own fund, Lucid.

Ex Magic Circle & Elite US lawyer turned headhunter Luke Mitchinson

Luke trained and qualified at Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer, where he worked for 3.5 years (this included a secondment at Bank of America Merrill Lynch). He was a project finance lawyer, but then joined the private equity team at Ropes & Gray, where he worked for 3 years, before changing careers to focus on legal headhunting. He has since co-founded and runs ARMA Search (www.armasearch.com).

Counsel, Leveraged Finance, US law firm Anonymous Instructor

This instructor has practised as a lawyer at three global US-headquartered law firms. She focuses on leveraged finance, often in the context of private equity, and was promoted to counsel by her current firm.

Commercial Law Academy Founder & Ex-Freshfields Lawyer Jake Schogger

Jake Schogger is a best-selling commercial awareness author, ex-Magic Circle lawyer, and the founder and CEO of Commercial Law Academy. He also co-founded SQE revision platform Law Student Academy. He trained at Freshfields, then spent years at a boutique law firm advising start-ups and scale-ups on a range of corporate, commercial and employment matters. He has also worked extensively as a career coach, and continues to deliver employability and skills presentations at leading universities and law firms across the UK. Connect with Jake on LinkedIn via www.linkedin.com/in/jakeschogger

Vice President, Fundraising Advisory Jean-baptiste Portelli

Jean-baptiste has spent most of his career selling and marketing financial products to financial institutions and retail investors. He now advises a range of private equity firms and investors in connection with raising capital for funds.

Ex-Magic Circle & elite US competition lawyer Kabya Chaharia

Kabya is a dual-qualified international commercial lawyer, with a background advising on the competition law aspects of high-profile M&A transactions for clients such as E.ON, Philip Morris, and CVC Capital Partners. After working as a senior associate at both Clifford Chance and Ropes & Gray, Kabya moved into legal recruitment.

Funds lawyer at Simpson Thacher & Bartlett Ediz Osman

Ediz is an associate in the Investment Funds Team at Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP. Ediz focuses on advising sponsors on the structuring, establishment and operation of private investment funds, including the formation of separately managed accounts, co-investments and carried interest arrangements. Ediz’s experience includes a secondment to Hellman & Friedman's legal team in San Francisco, where he gained a first-hand insight into a sponsor’s operations and strategic goals. During his secondment, Ediz worked on a range of fundraising and house matters which included the fundraising of H&F's $24.4bn private equity fund, Hellman & Friedman Capital Partners X.

Course reviews

Hear what subscribers have said about this course

5 star rating

Highly Informative

Sophia Blanco

Having never studied private equity before, I found the content to be very interesting and informative and now have a far better understanding of its core pr...

Read More

Having never studied private equity before, I found the content to be very interesting and informative and now have a far better understanding of its core principles. It was explained in clear and simple terms and was easy to follow.

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