Private equity for small and medium enterprises: an empirical analysis of a real case

Abstract

The subject of this thesis is the analysis of financing small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) through debt or venture capital. In particular, the work traces the literature to explain bank financing technologies, focusing on relationship lending and the alternative of raising capital through private equity. Both solutions are considered particularly suitable for SMEs as they are able to collect valuable information and overcome information asymmetries due to the fact that they are not listed and therefore can use simplified financial statements. Finally, the objective is to determine if and when one financing solution is preferable using a real case.