Private Equity Course offers insight into the use of private capital to gain ownership, build and exit businesses.

Challenges for Finance Managers:

Knowing how private equity deals are structured and implemented
Analysing investment opportunities from a private equity point of view
Understanding the value creation process in a private equity owned business
Appreciating the interests and incentives of sponsors, management and lenders
The exit strategy and how profits are realised and calculated

About This Course

Riverstone’s Private Equity course offers an in-depth and practical introduction to the private equity market for professionals. Our Private Equity course examines the entire investment process, including deal sourcing and due diligence, structuring, value creation and exit strategies. Delegates learn how private equity firms identify company value effectively, finding the right structure, and execute investments, partner with the management team to improve performance, and exit investments through trade sales, secondary sales or IPOs. Through case studies and tools, the private equity course provides insights into the strategies and approaches private equity firms use at each stage of the investment process.

Our private equity course in Australia is well suited for finance professionals, analysts, and business managers who are working in or seeking to move into private equity, as well as those who interact with private equity sponsors, investors, or portfolio companies in their current role. Understanding how private equity works from the inside gives professionals a significant advantage, whether they are preparing investment committee presentations, negotiating deal terms, or supporting a business through a PE-backed ownership period. By grounding the learning in real transaction scenarios through our private equity course, participants leave with a clearer picture of how decisions are made and value is created across the full investment lifecycle, and the confidence to play a more active role in those conversations.

Business Benefits

Understand the structures and processes of private equity investments
Gain an understanding of how to value businesses and deals from a private equity point of view
Enhance in-house expertise for dealing with private equity sponsors, advisers and investors
Assist those in or moving to private equity or other business areas by joining our private equity course

Objectives

Gain an insight into the private equity market and how it works
Analyse investment opportunities using the approaches taken by private equity practitioners
Evaluate deal structures and financing options, and returns
Evaluate opportunities for value creation and how they are executed in portfolio firms
Learn about exit strategies, and how private equity returns are created and calculated

Course Content

Module – 1

Private equity industry structure and importance

Industry structure and overview
Different types of private equity funds and their strategy
Summary of private equity processes – due diligence and investments, documentation, monitoring, and exits

Module – 2

Company analysis process

Company analysis including competitive positioning and its mapping in the industry
How to analyze financial models of the investee companies
Evaluate promoters and management team
Study the capital structure
How to run the valuation exercise (DCF, Comparables, NAV, multiple-based, operational metrics, etc)
Identify key pitfalls
Sensitivity analysis and its impact on overall returns

Module – 3

How to prepare investment proposal and Investment Committee presentation

Structure of Investment proposal
Keys points in the proposal
Importance of return and exit information
Preparation for Investment Committee presentation
Points to remember for presenting to Investment Committee
Report to be prepared for Investment Committee meeting

Module – 4

Due Diligence

How to create your due diligence plan
How to balance role of external and internal service providers
Key focus areas
- Financial models
- Business
- Legal
- Accounting
- Management due diligence
How to resolve post due diligence observations
How to identify keys risks

Module – 5

Documentation (commercial overview)

Keys terms and their impact on business- Minority Protection, Affirmative Rights, Exit rights, Conditions Precedents, Board rights etc
How to negotiate effective terms sheets
Key points to focus while negotiating shareholders agreement

Module – 6

Investment structures

What are the various structures for investments
Direct Equity – private market, public market, listed and unlisted market
Equity-linked debt – mezzanine funding, convertible securities etc
Debt funding – bridge funding, subordinated debts, securitization and structured finance

Module – 7

Monitoring investments and value-add

How to help the investee company develop a common business goal and plan
How to support the business on various operational and strategic areas
Common restructuring activities that can be carried out
Financial engineering to improve shareholders’ return and reduce riskiness
Manage the risks highlighted during due diligence process

Module – 8

Exit process

How to prepare the investee company for exits
Analyze various exit options and their pitfalls
How to do exit valuation
Determining the target price and exit returns
Essential concepts – Gross and net IRR, cash multiple and its relevance

Module – 9

Case Discussions

Case discussions based on past private equity transactions to explain the entire process and its implications

Course Delivery

This course can be taken as a scheduled public course at various locations around Australia, as a customised professional course at your office, or as an e-learning course. Length and delivery of the program can be tailored to your team’s requirements.

Dates

Monday, September 14, 2026.
Monday, December 7, 2026.