Vulture capitalist

Vulture capitalists are investors that acquire distressed firms in the hopes of making them more profitable so as to ultimately sell them for a profit. Due to their aggressive investing nature, and the methods they use to make firms more profitable, vulture capitalists are often criticized.

A venture capitalist is an investor who provides funding for start-ups, early stage firms and companies with growth potential. These types of firms seek out venture capitalists, as they are too small or too new to have credit profiles, making them ineligible for bank loans and other forms of raising capital.

Although risky, venture capitalists invest in firms as there are very lucrative returns on their investments when the company they are investing in is successful. Furthermore, venture capitalists will often invest in a range of firms rather than just one or two, in order to mitigate risks if the investments are unsuccessful.

On the other hand, vulture capitalists are a type of venture capitalist, which provide a final attempt at gaining funding. Whereas venture capitalists seek firms with growth potential, vulture capitalists usually seek out firms where costs can be cut in order to increase profits. Mostly, these firms are distressed and on the brink of bankruptcy Due to this reason, vulture capitalists are able to buy these firms at a much lower price than if they had been profitable and expanding.

Once the firm is acquired, vulture capitalists can attempt to increase efficiency in order to turn the company around. This is often done by cut-downs costs wherever possible, which in part is likely to be accomplished by firing workers where possible, reducing benefits or both. With reduced costs, the firm becomes profitable or at least raises the probability of this eventually happening, thus raising the share price and the worth of the investors holdings. Lastly, the vulture capitalists sell any equity they own, making a profit. But vulture capitalists can also choose to divide and sell off the entire company in pieces, if this should increase the attractiveness of each individual piece to its purchaser and thus allow the vulture capitalist a net profit.

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Wikipedia