0000000000255770

AUTHOR

Ken Robbie

Venture capitalists, investment appraisal and accounting information: a comparative study of the USA, UK, France, Belgium and Holland

The differences between the information used for the pre-investment valuation and the valuation methods used by venture capital investors in five countries (USA, UK, France, Belgium and Holland) are empirically studied. The analysis is based on postal questionnaire surveys of representative samples of senior venture capitalists in each country. Differences are found, which may be attributed to the dominant corporate governance mechanism or the level of development of the venture capital market. Between-country differences persist even after taking into account between-country differences in the relative importance of investment stages and venture capital types. Apparently similar systems an…

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Determinants of required returns in venture capital investments: a five country study

Abstract Using two complementary theoretical perspectives, we develop hypotheses regarding the determinants of the return required by venture capitalists and test them on a sample of over 200 venture capital companies (VCCs) located in five countries. Consistent with resource-based theory, we find that early-stage specialists require a significantly higher return than other VCCs when investing in later-stage ventures. Consistent with financial theory, we find that acquisition/buyout specialists require a significantly lower return than other VCCs when investing in expansion companies. Furthermore, in comparison to specialists, highly stage-diversified VCCs require a significantly higher ret…

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Venture Capitalists’ Appraisal of Investment Projects: An Empirical European Study

The Investment appraisal and valuation process of venture capitalists includes Information gathering, the assessment of risk and required return, and the choice of a valuation method. This process is empirically studied in the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, Belgium, and France. The Importance of different information sources is equal in the four countries, except that the French venture capitalists Place more emphasis on personal references and the track record of the entrepreneur. The required return is lowest in the Netherlands and Belgium for every development stage of a company, and highest in the UK. The most widely used valuation method in the UK is the multiplication of past or fu…

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