Over the thesis:
Private equity as a source of corporate financing and private equity funds are controversial. Discussions seem to essentially relate to conflicting interests and information asymmetries between various actors involved. According to the agency theory, agency conflicts can arise in any relationship in which one party, the agent, promises another party, the principal, to perform a certain task. In the context of private equity, there is an accumulation of principal-agent relationships and thus a whole chain of agency conflicts. This thesis examines the various agency problems that can arise at fund level and portfolio level and, taking into account the specific characteristics of private equity investments, whether company law and (in addition to or instead of company law) financial law are suitable for addressing these agency problems, to the extent that conventional mechanisms are insufficient (or give rise to new agency problems).