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Review of Financial Studies Vol. 21 No. 5 2008

Contracts and Exits in Venture Capital Finance

Douglas J. Cumming

open access

Abstract

Contracts and exits from a sample of 179 investment rounds in 132 entrepreneurial firms by 17 European venture capital (VC) funds are analyzed. The data indicate the financial contracts are quite heterogeneous in terms of both the cash flow and control rights. The use of different securities by European VC funds does not depend on the definition of venture capital, and the securities used are not functional equivalents. A normative empirical analysis of exit shows the likelihood of different types of exit vehicles (IPO, acquisition, and liquidation) and the returns to venture capital depend on not only firm specific characteristics but also the allocation of cash flow and control rights.

DOI
10.1093/rfs/hhn072
Volume
21
Issue
5
Pages
1947-1982
Language
en
Sources
openalex crossref

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