Publika private equity-bolags påverkan på styrningen av sina portföljföretag. En fallstudie av styrmekanismernas utveckling under ägarperioden.
Recent years have been very turbulent for most private equity firms. Especially the financial meltdown in global economy has affected the industry, but also the public pressure has made private equity houses change their control strategies towards more conventional methods used in public companies. This thesis aims to put light on the control methods used in listed private equity houses which use a buyout strategy. The paper describes how the control methods change over the different phases the asset experience and how different value generating strategies use altered control methods. Using Merchant's (2003) framework for management control systems and Berg and Gottschalg's (2004) research on value generating strategies in buyouts the thesis shows that action controls as designing instructions for the board and a business plan, together with goal alignment is the commonly used control strategy directly after the acquisition. In the holding period mainly results controls are used, where reporting and close follow up are preferred strategies. The final period, which is initiated through the idea of selling the asset, will consist of mainly personnel controls, where the owners discuss purchasing agreements and meet with potential buyers. Truly logical this period will see a lot of owner activity, since they wish to realize the total value generated so far.