A well-designed, authoritative guide to private equity—even for inexpert readers.
A brief but comprehensive introduction to the inner machinations of private equity.
In 2018, more than a third of all mergers and acquisitions in the United States involved private-equity investment, which is an expanding, multitrillion-dollar industry. According to debut author Coffey, the CEO of commercial refrigeration company CoolSys, private equity provides a surfeit of opportunities for middle-market companies and individual investors to build substantial wealth. However, the terrain is technically complex and populated by intensely competitive “players,” he says; indeed, Coffey’s self-described primer, from its title on down, is driven by sports analogies as he aims to give readers a “basic understanding of the private equity game.” He starts at the most elemental level, explaining the basic nature of private-equity firms and the structure of equity agreements as well as quantitative measures of their success and failure. In addition to explaining key technical terms, Coffey explicates the historical growth of the industry and the ways in which it may be mined for wealth. Furthermore, he furnishes an astute analysis of the hierarchical structure of the firms themselves and what one can likely expect from interactions with leadership: “Never play short ball and focus on just price—unless price is all that matters to you,” he notes at one point. “Be cognizant of the firm’s personalities and reputations.” Coffey’s style is as lucid as it is informal. His expertise is beyond reproach, as he has 20 years of experience running three private-equity backed companies.Although his counsel can be rather broad—he carefully points out he’s “not providing legal, career, or financial advice in this book”—it will be no less insightful or helpful to the uninitiated. Coffey explicitly targets his book at two kinds of readers—CEOs who may be looking to sell private equity, and executives aspiring to C-suite positions at private-equity-backed companies. However, it should also be a valuable resource for anyone looking for a single-volume introduction.
A well-designed, authoritative guide to private equity—even for inexpert readers.Pub Date: Feb. 14, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-5445-1327-0
Page Count: 184
Publisher: Lioncrest
Review Posted Online: March 14, 2019
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
An autobiography as toxic and addictive as any drug its author has ever ingested.
The legendary booze-addled metal rocker turned reality-TV star comes clean in his tell-all autobiography.
Although brought up in the bleak British factory town of Aston, John “Ozzy” Osbourne’s tragicomic rags-to-riches tale is somehow quintessentially American. It’s an epic dream/nightmare that takes him from Winson Green prison in 1966 to a presidential dinner with George W. Bush in 2004. Tracing his adult life from petty thief and slaughterhouse worker to rock star, Osbourne’s first-person slang-and-expletive-driven style comes off like he’s casually relating his story while knocking back pints at the pub. “What you read here,” he writes, “is what dribbled out of the jelly I call my brain when I asked it for my life story.” During the late 1960s his transformation from inept shoplifter to notorious Black Sabbath frontman was unlikely enough. In fact, the band got its first paying gigs by waiting outside concert venues hoping the regularly scheduled act wouldn’t show. After a few years, Osbourne and his bandmates were touring America and becoming millionaires from their riff-heavy doom music. As expected, with success came personal excess and inevitable alienation from the other members of the group. But as a solo performer, Osbourne’s predilection for guns, drink, drugs, near-death experiences, cruelty to animals and relieving himself in public soon became the stuff of legend. His most infamous exploits—biting the head off a bat and accidentally urinating on the Alamo—are addressed, but they seem tame compared to other dark moments of his checkered past: nearly killing his wife Sharon during an alcohol-induced blackout, waking up after a bender in the middle of a busy highway, burning down his backyard, etc. Osbourne is confessional to a fault, jeopardizing his demonic-rocker reputation with glib remarks about his love for Paul McCartney and Robin Williams. The most distinguishing feature of the book is the staggering chapter-by-chapter accumulation of drunken mishaps, bodily dysfunctions and drug-induced mayhem over a 40-plus-year career—a résumé of anti-social atrocities comparable to any of rock ’n’ roll’s most reckless outlaws.
An autobiography as toxic and addictive as any drug its author has ever ingested.Pub Date: Jan. 25, 2010
ISBN: 978-0-446-56989-7
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Grand Central Publishing
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2009
IN THE NEWS
This is not the Nutcracker sweet, as passed on by Tchaikovsky and Marius Petipa. No, this is the original Hoffmann tale of 1816, in which the froth of Christmas revelry occasionally parts to let the dark underside of childhood fantasies and fears peek through. The boundaries between dream and reality fade, just as Godfather Drosselmeier, the Nutcracker's creator, is seen as alternately sinister and jolly. And Italian artist Roberto Innocenti gives an errily realistic air to Marie's dreams, in richly detailed illustrations touched by a mysterious light. A beautiful version of this classic tale, which will captivate adults and children alike. (Nutcracker; $35.00; Oct. 28, 1996; 136 pp.; 0-15-100227-4)
Pub Date: Oct. 28, 1996
ISBN: 0-15-100227-4
Page Count: 136
Publisher: Harcourt
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 1996
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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