Oct. 10, 2007 — Eight graduates of the McIntire School of Commerce will be featured in a series of panels focusing on the future for private equity firms when The McIntire Center for Financial Innovation and the Center for Growth Enterprises present McIntire’s 2007 Fall Forum. The annual forum— titled “Value Creation and the Private Equity Revolution” — begins at 8 a.m. on Oct. 12 in Old Cabell Hall Auditorium on the Grounds of the University of Virginia, and is  open to the public at no charge.

This is the latest in a series of symposia initiated by the McIntire School in 2000 to celebrate and ponder the new millennium.

The 2007 Fall Forum will explore the future of private equity in increasingly unsettled capital markets and will address the theoretical and operational bases of value creation that this investment revolution embraced.

As they look at the current status of the private equity boom, the panelists will be considering a series of key questions. How long can it last? Where is the private equity “revolution” headed from here? Is this really a better business model that spells enhanced returns for its investors and the economy at large? Or is it just another cycle that grew out of regulatory reaction to the dot-com bubble? What can we expect in the future from this new wave of investment firms?

The first panel, “High-Visibility Large Private Equity Firms: Is Bigger Really Better,” will feature Mitch Cohen, a 1976 graduate, managing director of Hellman & Friedman; John Connaughton, a 1987 graduate, managing director, Bain Capital LLC;
Greg Ledford, a 1979 graduate, managing director, The Carlyle Group; and Steve Tadler, a 1981 graduate, managing director, Advent International Corporation.

The second panel, scheduled to begin at 9:45 a.m., is titled “Niche Plays and the Private Equity Value Chain: Theory Meets Value Practice.” Panelists are Tom Carver, a 1989 McIntire graduate and a 1994 Darden alumnus, managing partner, Harren Equity Partners; Rob Harper, a 2000 McIntire graduate, principal, Real Estate Group, The Blackstone Group; Josh Paulson, a 1999 McIntire graduate, partner, P2 Capital Partners; and John Shulman, a 1984 McIntire graduate, managing director, Allied Capital Corporation’s Private Finance.

A final session will conclude the forum with the panelists looking to the future of the private equity market.

For information on the forum or the McIntire School of Commerce, see the McIntire School's Web site (www.commerce.virginia.edu) or contact Jim Travisano at (434) 924-7005.