ABSTRACT

Syndication occurs when two or more venture capital (VC) firms invest in the same deal in order to pool resources, information and knowledge and to share financial risk amongst syndicate members. The extent to which US VC firms syndicate with UK/European VCs on UK/European deals (and vice versa) has received little empirical study. This study reviews syndication amongst UK/European and US VCs in order to ascertain their rationales for syndication: themes that are explored include risk sharing, additional finance, and/or value add from the different expertise of syndicate members. The study considers if there are issues with the alignment of interests of syndicate members internationally across borders. The research reveals that whilst European VCs appear willing to syndicate with US VCs, some US VCs have historically been reluctant to syndicate with European VCs. The reasons for this reluctance are addressed and suggestions for greater co-operation between European and US VCs proposed. Funding from US VCs, through collaborative syndicates with European VCs, is necessary to supplement the lack of patient capital in Europe which is required in order to scale up potential high-growth companies.

摘要

当两个或两个以上风险投资（VC）公司投资同一笔交易以聚集资源，信息和知识并在集团成员之间分担财务风险时，就会发生集团联合。美国风投公司在英国/欧洲交易中与英国/欧洲风投组织联合的程度（反之亦然）很少得到实证研究。这项研究回顾了英国/欧洲和美国风险投资公司之间的联合组织，以确定其联合组织的理由：探讨的主题包括风险分担，额外的融资和/或来自联合组织成员不同专业知识的增值。该研究考虑了跨国界国际集团成员利益的一致性是否存在问题。研究表明，尽管欧洲的风险投资人似乎愿意与美国的风险投资人联合，从历史上看，一些美国风投公司不愿与欧洲风投集团联合。解决了造成这种不愿的原因，并提出了有关欧美风险投资人加强合作的建议。通过与欧洲风投组织合作，从美国风投公司筹集资金，对于补充欧洲缺乏耐心资本的需求是必要的，这是扩大潜在的高增长公司所必需的。