Unleashing Cerberus: don’t let your MBOs turn on themselves

Management buyouts can be difficult to manage and do not lead to guaranteed riches. In the face of what appears to be an increasingly difficult market, we examine why MBOs may fail. During the summer of 1997, we collected the opinions of senior directors of lending banks, top venture capitalists and managing directors of MBOs. From their accounts of the MBO process, we conclude that MBOs may not achieve their promise as the process itself can be unstable. We observe that, without significant strategic renewal, three key stakeholders in the MBO arena will pull apart. An analogy might be unleashing Cerberus: three powerful heads working together can indeed represent a formidable force, but should there be a struggle for supremacy between them, the common purpose is subverted.