Capital Call In Private Equity Investing: Everything You Should Know

In recent years, the business of private equity has gone beyond being a specialized area of the financial business to becoming widely accepted. Although private equity has garnered a lot of attention, many people are still unfamiliar with its specifics, such concepts as “capital calls, How do capital calls work, when and why to use capital call, and disadvantages of a capital call”. Although capital calls are a very helpful tool in private equity, they should be utilized with care and knowledge of the potential outcomes. Businesses are transforming quarterly or annually, especially in financial firms where capital call, legal rights of investment firms, and private equity are still instrumental and should not be swept under the carpet when it comes to the transformation of business for greater heights. Now, Let’s have a detailed look at the subject holder to understand more about Capital calls in Private Equity Investing.

Private equity investing and capital call

Private equity investing and the capital call goes hand in hand when in private equity investment, and it’s always important to know the below subsections-

• Understand private equity 
• What is private equity investing?
• What is capital call in private equity investing?
• How does capital call work?
• Importance of capital call

A successful business requires a grasp of how capital calls and private equity investing operate.

Understand private equity

Private equity (or PE) is the name given to a group of investment firms that make investments in or buy private businesses that are not publicly traded. Additionally, the said PE firms can take over publicly traded businesses, privatize them, and subsequently rearrange them for conceivable future expansion. Loans, the issuance of shares, or the sale of bonds are all options for businesses seeking money. These more traditional means of acquiring cash have competition from the private equity sector.

Private equity firms frequently issue capital calls when an investment deal approaches closing. The time allotted to investors to distribute the monies is fixed and is normally from one week and ten days. Investors initially provide money, which they are eventually reimbursed for by investments.

What is private equity investing?

Private equity investing comes primarily from institutional investors and accredited investors who can invest significant amounts of money for an extended period. Long holding periods are often required for private equity investments to allow distressed companies to turn around or to allow for liquidity events such as an initial public offering (IPO) or sale to a public company. As public stock markets continue to flex with all-time highs daily, and with expectations that one of the longest-running bull markets in history may be coming to an end on late market cycle indicators, many investors are turning to alternative investment opportunities to drive value and growth generation across their overall investment on private equity.

What is capital call in private equity investing?

A capital call, commonly referred to as a “drawdown” is the procedure of obtaining money from limited partners (LP) when needed. A private equity firm, a venture capital firm, or a business angel will typically make a private equity investment. All of these investors typically invest operating cash to a target firm to promote growth, the creation of new products, or a restructuring of the business’ operations, management, or ownership. Each investor’s investment has its own objectives, preferences, and investment tactics. Private equity typically makes investments in established businesses in more traditional industries in exchange for an equity stake in the business.

How does capital call work?

A capital call, in practice, entails requesting money transfers from one or more of your limited partners to the fund’s checking account. Capital call works depending on the magnitude of the investment you wish to make; you can get back a certain amount. Furthermore, if a capital call is made too soon before a deal is closed, you can wind up with an excess of funds. You shouldn’t utilize capital calls for risky trades or operations costs; rather, you should only use them to finance investments for which an agreement has been made. Excessive dependence on capital calls may give investors the impression that your fund is unreliable. This is due to the fact that businesses with regular capital calls typically have fewer funds on hand.

Importance of capital call

The aim of the capital call is to be primarily intended to dissuade investors from defaulting on their financial obligations. The most effective medium, which is the importance of capital calls that are most frequently used are:

• Raise money – The destiny of your business may be determined by your fundraising efforts. A successful fundraiser can guarantee that there are enough funds to support all of your endeavors. Lack of fundraising or raising money will lead to poor performance that will jeopardize the future of your company or business.
• Reduce cash drag – Equitization is a method of raising returns. It achieves this by minimizing the output drag brought on by holding surplus cash in a portfolio—a straightforward but frequently disregarded strategy. Stock index futures agreements are the main elements for adopting a cash equitization approach. They are a great tool for equitizing currency due to their extraordinary liquidity, minimal processing fees, and practically 24-hour access. It makes investing extra money more simple.
• Cover future investment and expenses – Covering future investment and expenses enable firms to plan ahead and strategize toward any unforeseen circumstances. As such, it provides a mechanism for improving financial flexibility and facilitating long-term risk management. It is important for businesses to have a good handle on what it needs to survive.
• Keep some of their capital – Save some of your money; depending on their investment objectives, investors place their money in a variety of investments. While saving money for investors, capital call enables investors to accumulate compounded interest as well, thereby generating an increment on the investment.

Disadvantages of capital call

The advantages of capital calls, if not properly monitored, can lead to disadvantages capital calls like-

• Have additional cost – any investor that is unable to satisfy a capital call is regarded as being in default and may be subject to additional cost and fine. Processing fees apply to capital calls. They mandate that the GP manage incoming funds, notify LPs of capital calls, and deal with past-due LPs. There will also be interest and other charges if a GP chooses to utilize a capital offer.
• Risk of LP default – when a limited partner (LP) fails to fulfill the capital call, there will be a risk of losing some benefit which can be induced through legal repercussions. Additionally, limited partners may incur more responsibility instead of less due to the consequences of failing to fulfill the capital call.
• Delay deals – Due to rigorous due diligence, deals might be delayed and which might hurt business. Delaying this deal hurt business and tampered with the dividends or revenues that ought to have started accumulating if the deal were not delayed.
• Can make sour GP-LP relationship – In general, capital call indicates which penalties to implement from the limited partnership agreement to apply in a certain circumstance. In addition to imposing penalties on the general partner (GP) and limited partner (LP)’; this might lead to withholding future income disbursements, thereby souring the GP-LP relationship.

When should you use capital call?

When a firm requires capital, capital calls are used, and the short-term connecting funding is guaranteed by the capital commitments of the owners or investors. Private equity firms’ daily management and finance are made possible through short-term borrowing. Capital calls are often made on an on-demand basis and are not reliant upon the investment cycle of the partners.

What happens when you can’t maintain a capital call?

Typical private equity fund limited partnership agreements (LPAs) will often provide specific guidelines for handling LP defaults. The GP normally has the authority to impose penalty interest on late payments, and the LPA typically gives the defaulting LP some time to “solve” its default. The majority of instances would conclude here. However, the GP will have greater authority if the LP is still in default following a suitable “healing period” such as-

• Trading of LP shares – The GP could set up the transfer of all or a portion of the LP shares in the Fund to other LPs (who might have a right of first refusal) or to other third parties. Usually, the historic record value, less the cost of selling, or valuation, would be used to establish the sale price (although the defaulting LP may be required to recover any additional costs not received). This might not be a strong enough deterrence; thus, the LPA will probably include other potential measures.
• Capital call redistribution – Instead of the failing, LP, the GP, another LP, or a third party (or a combination of them) will fund the capital call and purchase a favored stake in the pertinent investment (which usually remains liable for funding future capital calls).
• Required redemption – The violating LP may be required to forfeit its current stake in the fund (or a large fraction thereof, including its ability to vote at each issue) pro rata in favor of the other LPs, at the GP’s discretion. The LP and its responsibility could be removed from the firm by using this ability alone or in conjunction with the cancellation of the LP’s remaining debt (and responsibility to pay for subsequent capital calls). Due to the reduced total commitments to the Fund and, consequently, the Fund’s investability and management fees.

Things to consider by GPs when making capital call

The steps often involved in the investing factors phase are:

• Mission recognition – Look for a mission that might be appropriate to consider. The potential to have a mission that complements your fundraising process will help boost the capital call.
• Inspection and Specification of the Mission – Clearly classifying a mission will help you comprehend it and make sure it’s proper. The mission should be something that can propel future progress and maintain a continual stream of cash flow. 
• Evaluate and Embrace – Creating and analyzing the requirements for a functional project that meets an organization’s objectives, as well as official participation in a “project”. When a project is implemented, work on it starts, and steps are made to ensure a good outcome.
• Surveillance – Choices and actions are reviewed frequently to make sure a project stays on course and to offer chances to enhance and alter procedures and choices.
• Validation – Analyzing the results of a project or investment to ascertain if the initial goals and objectives have been met. This phase offers a way to assess whether it was productive as well as a way to further enhance and hone procedures. 

Common mistakes to avoid while making capital call

The real equity may need to be refinanced unnecessarily if cash is called up too early with no need for a plan of action. Capital calls are to be made only when there is a good chance to make a profit. It is not a good idea to rely on capital calls to cover operational costs, as the primary goal of an equity fund is to generate value and profit for investors. This option should only be used to finance ventures temporarily and address unforeseen market issues.

Why choose Eqvista for your business needs and services?

The highly qualified and committed team at Eqvista will help you with the tiresome work of managing capital calls, issuing automated shares for your business, and other related tasks. Consequently, you wouldn’t need to go somewhere for assistance with your company. This platform was developed to alter the manner that businesses traditionally submit their information. With Eqvista, tasks that typically take days to complete would be completed fast. In a nutshell, Eqvista wants to make things simpler for a lot of businesses while also making the currently challenging infrastructure simpler. To learn more about what we have to offer, contact us today.