Who gets private equity? The role of debt capacity, growth and intangible assets

This paper examines the characteristics of a sample of 231 firms that did receive private equity (PE) and compare them to those of a matched sample. The authors show that firms rely on PE funding when there are no alternatives, i.e.when their debt capacity is limited, due to financial and bankruptcy risk and due to important investments in intangibles. PE investors, from their side, select firms with substantial growth options. Further, firms that receive PE have grown more before the funding event than companies that did not receive PE.