I would like to extend my gratitude to a number of people. First, those without whom this endeavor would never have achieved its current state. These include, on the one hand, the researchers who accompanied me throughout the development of this project. On the other hand, there were many professionals in the field of French private equity without whom my empirical study could not have been carried out. Second, I would like to thank the people who have been alongside me all these years, both near and far, and who contributed to my wellbeing and to the establishment of very favorable conditions for the completion of this research project. In particular, I would like to address:
- – Professors Gérard Charreaux and Philippe Desbrières for their follow-up and all the support they provided through their presence, whether it was in the form of listening, reading, advice or words of encouragement. Their feedback allowed me to guide the project and present it in its best form, in addition to teaching me a privileged lesson. I am deeply grateful to the following people: Professor Mike Wright and Drs. Kevin Amess and Louise Scholes for welcoming me and following me around during my stay in England at the Centre for Management Buy-Out and Private Equity Research (CMBOR) at Nottingham University; Professors Martine Girod-Séville and Alain Desreumaux for agreeing to be the examiners of my work and Professors Peter Wirtz and Bernard de Montmorillon for their participation in the jury as voting members;
- – the private equity professionals and managers of private equity-backed firms who participated in the study, and the statistics department of Invest France, the former Association française des investisseurs pour la Croissance (AFIC), for agreeing to support my econometric study;
- – my spell-checkers for their extensive proofreading.