The phrase 'private equity' became widespread in the late 1980s following major buyout fund activity. What has been neglected for some time is the existence of listed private equity -an exposure through a share in a private equity company traded on a stock exchange. While the listed market is small compared to its unlisted counterpart, it benefits from a variety of advantages that make this form of private equity worth further consideration. But is public private equity a contradiction in terms? We conclude that although there are different organizational structures between listed and unlisted private equity, an investment in listed private equity exhibits similar or even equivalent characteristics to an investment in unlisted private equity. Finally, we present an empirical overview of the listed private equity market.

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