Centre for Management Buyout Research returns to Nottingham University Business School 

The Centre for Management Buyout Research has returned to the city where it was founded in 1986

The Centre for Management Buyout Research (CMBOR) has moved to Nottingham University Business School, where it will be headed up by Dr Kevin Amess, Associate Professor in Industrial Economics.

The Centre was founded in 1986 at the Nottingham University Business School by Professor Mike Wright (who died in 2019) before moving to Imperial College Business School with him in 2011.

CMBOR collects and aggregates quantitative data on buy-outs by management teams and private equity institutions, and gathers information from a broad range of participating institutions on buy-outs and exits by geographical region.

Using this data, the Centre produces internationally esteemed reports that include journalistic content summing up trends along with charts and graphs ideal for reporting purposes. These reports are an essential investment validation tool for market practitioners looking for valuable evidence.

Mike [Wright] was a big personality at the front of what CMBOR did

Dr Amess, who was supervised by Professor Wright during his PhD in the 1990s, worked with CMBOR Deputy Director Rod Ball and Jon Tucker, Faculty Operating Officer at Imperial College Business School, to arrange the Centre’s move back to Nottingham.

The Centre will continue to generate revenue from the sale of quarterly buyout reports and other data products and private equity firm Equistone Partners will continue to be a major sponsor. Meanwhile, Mr Ball will stay on to support CMBOR in a consultancy role.

“Rod has collected and tracked the data for decades. It is a labour-intensive exercise, and nobody knows the database better than he does,” Dr Amess told Nicholas Neveling of private equity magazine Real Deals.

Professor Wright was one of Imperial College Business School’s most prominent academics and received no shortage of recognition for his professional success, including coveted honours such as being made a Fellow of both the British Academy and the Strategic Management Society.

“Mike was a big personality at the front of what CMBOR did. He was a pioneer in the research of private equity and the CMBOR database put him at the forefront of the field as there weren’t any other data providers around in the 1980s and 1990s,” Dr Amess said.

He was known for publishing at an exceptionally high rate, writing over 40 books and publishing more than 300 papers in academic and professional journals, and was an extremely valued member of the School’s faculty.

“Mike was a leading international academic and a pillar of the School for many years. We are deeply grateful for his outstanding contribution as a faculty member and a colleague,” Francisco Veloso, Dean of Imperial College Business School, said.

You can find out more about the Centre’s continuing work at Nottingham University Business School here.