Assessment of value creation in private equity: the acquisition of Burger King by 3G Capital

This thesis elaborates the creation of value in private equity and in particular analyzes value creation in 3G Capital’s acquisition of Burger King. In this sense, a specific model is applied that composes value creation into several drivers, in order to answer the question of how value creation can be addressed in private equity investments. Although previous research by Achleitner et al. (2010) introduced a specific model that addresses value creation in private equity, the respective model was neither applied to an individual company, nor linked to indirect drivers that explain the dynamics and rationales for the creation of value. In turn this paper applies the quantitative model to an ongoing private equity investment and thereby provides different extensions to turn the model into a better forecasting model for ongoing investments, instead of only analyzing a deal that has already been divested from an ex post perspective. The chosen research approach is a case study about the Burger King buyout that first includes an extensive review about the current status of academic literature, second a quantitative calculation and qualitative interpretation of different direct value drivers, third a qualitative breakdown of indirect drivers, and lastly a recapitulating discussion about value creation and value drivers. Presenting a very successful private equity investment and elaborately demonstrating the dynamics and mechanisms that drive value creation in this case, provides important implications for other private equity firms as well as public firms in order to develop their proprietary approach towards value creation.

Death of two slender-billed parakeet (King) (Enicognathus leptorhynchus) (Aves, Psittacidae) by Ascaridia hermaphrodita (Froelich, 1789, Railliet & Henry, 1914) at the National Zoo of Santiago, Chile

No Zoológico Nacional do Parque Metropolitano de Santiago, Chile, foram encontrados dois psitacídeos Enicognathus leptorhynchus, mortos pelo nematódeo Ascaridia hermaphrodita (Froelich, 1789). Este é o primeiro registro desse nematódeo em E. leptorhynchus e também o primeiro registro deste parasito no Chile.

Desiccation effects on germination and vigor of King palm seeds

Determinou-se a tolerância ao dessecamento de sementes de Archontophoenix alexandrae (Wendl. & Drude) e identificou-se o teste de vigor mais sensível para avaliar a deterioração de sementes nessa espécie. Frutos maduros foram colhidos na coleção de palmeiras do Instituto Agronômico em Campinas. Os frutos despolpados foram transportados em embalagem impermeável para a UNESP em Botucatu, onde as sementes foram secas a diferentes intervalos de tempo. Foram avaliados teor de umidade, germinação, comprimento da plântula e condutividade elétrica. Os resultados sugerem que sementes de A. alexandrae são recalcitrantes, com alta porcentagem de germinação (acima de 67%) quando não desidratadas (47% de umidade). Teores de água inferiores a 31,5% reduziram significativamente a taxa de germinação (<52,5%). Perda total da capacidade germinativa foi observada em sementes com 15,1% de umidade. Dentre os testes de vigor empregados, aquele que avalia a condutividade elétrica da água de embebição foi o mais sensível para a identificação da deterioração da semente em resposta à dessecação progressiva do lote em estudo.

Efeitos interfaciais em heteroestruturas quânticas nô-abruptas: GaAs/ALxGa1-xAs

Um minuncioso estudo das propriedades de confinamento em heterostructuras bidimensionais(poços quânticos) GaAs/AlxGa1_xAs, com interfaces graduais é realizado. Um modelo teórico que represente bem a variação da fração molar do alumínio nas interfaces, resultante do aparecimento de micro-rugosidades e ilhas durante os processos de crescimento e recozimento pós-crescimento da amostra, é elaborado. Vários perfis desta fração molar de alumínio nas interfaces são considerados. Soluções analíticas da equação de Schrodinger, na aproximação da massa efetiva constatne nas interfaces, resultando em equações transcendentais, que possibilitam a obtenção dos níveis de energia dos portadores, decorrentes do seu confinamento quântico, são apresentadas. Energias de ligação e de confinamento de excitons 2D, utilizando-se um método analítico e numerérico e a aproximação do potencial efetivo, são também calculadas. Resultados numéricos para os níveis de energia dos portadores e para as energias de ligação e de confinamento dos excitons 2D, em poços quânticos GaAs/Al0.35Ga0.65As não-abruptos, sem e com a presença de campo elétrico aplicado para vários perfis interfaciais da fração de molar, são mostrados. Para a obtenção desses resultados, faz-se uso do método dos degraus múltiplos e da técnica da matriz de transferência, e adota-se, como operador de energia cinética, o de Ben-Daniel e Duque para uma massa efetiva dependente da posição. Conclui-se que um modelo que leva em conta a existência de interfaces não-abruptas e seus diversos perfis é indispensável para uma melhor descrição das propriedades opto-eletrônicas de poços quânticos GaAs/AlxGa1-xAs, enquanto que a aproximação das interfaces abruptas apresenta-se bastante limitada

Search for resonances in the dilepton mass distribution in pp collisions at root s=7 TeV

Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)

Early Miocene bivalves from the Cape Melville Formation, King George Island, West Antarctica

Seven species of marine bivalves, including six new taxa, are described from the Cape early Miocene Melville Formation which crops out on the Melville Peninsula, King George Island, West Antarctica. The bivalve assemblage includes representatives of the families Nuculidae, Ennucula frigida sp. nov., E. musculosa sp. nov.; Malletidae, Neilo (Neilo) rongelii sp. nov.; Sareptidae, Yoldia peninsularis sp. nov.; Limopsidae, Limopsis psimolis sp. nov.; Hiatellidae, Panopea (Panopea) sp. cf. P. regularis; and Pholadomyoida (Periploma acuta sp. nov.). Species studied come from four sedimentary sections measured in the upper part of the unit. Detailed morphologic features of nuculoid and areoid species are exceptionally well preserved and allow for the first time reconstruction of muscle insertions as well as dentition patterns of Cenozoic taxa. Known geological distribution of the species is in agreement with the early Miocene age assigned to the Cape Melville Formation. The bivalve fauna from Cape Melville Formation is the best known from Antarctic Miocene rocks, a time of complex geologic, paleogeographic and paleoclimatic changes in the continent. The new fauna introduces new taxonomic and palaeogeographic data that bear oil the question of opening of sea gateways and distribution of Cenozoic biota around Antarctica.

Spatial variability models of CO2 emissions from soils colonized by grass (Deschampsia antarctica) and moss (Sanionia uncinata) in Admiralty Bay, King George Island

Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)

Invertebrates from the Low Head Member (Polonez Cove Formation, Oligocene) at Vaureal Peak, King George Island, West Antarctica

Eight taxa of marine invertebrates, including two new bivalve species, are described from the Low Head Member of the Polonez Cove Formation (latest early Oligocene) cropping out in the Vaureal Peak area, King George Island, West Antarctica. The fossil assemblage includes representatives of Brachiopoda (genera Neothyris sp. and Liothyrella sp.), Bivalvia (Adamussium auristriatum sp. nov., ?Adamussium cf. A. alanbeui Jonkers, and Limatula (Antarctolima) ferraziana sp. nov.), Bryozoa, Polychaeta (serpulid tubes) and Echinodermata. Specimens occur in debris flows deposits of the Low Head Member, as part of a fan delta setting in a high energy, shallow marine environment. Liothyrella sp., Adamussium auristriatum sp. nov. and Limatula ferraziana sp. nov. are among the oldest records for these genera in King George Island. In spite of their restrict number and diversification, bivalves and brachiopods from this study display an overall dispersal pattern that roughly fits in the clockwise circulation of marine currents around Antarctica accomplished in two steps. The first followed the opening of the Tasmanian Gateway at the Eocene/Oligocene boundary, along the eastern margin of Antarctica, and the second took place in post-Palaeogene time, following the Drake Passage opening between Antarctic Peninsula and South America, along the western margin of Antarctica.

Spatial and temporal variability in soil CO2-C emissions and relation to soil temperature at King George Island, maritime Antarctica

Few studies have examined the effects of temperature on spatial and temporal trends in soil CO2-C emissions in Antarctica. In this work, we present in situ measurements of CO2-C emissions and assess their relation with soil temperature, using dynamic chambers. We found an exponential relation between CO2 emissions and soil temperature, with the value of Q10 being close to 2.1. Mean emission rates were as low as 0.026 and 0.072 g of CO2-C m-2 h-1 for bare soil and soil covered with moss, respectively, and as high as 0.162 g of CO2-C m-2 h-1 for soil covered with grass, Deschampsia antarctica Desv. (Poaceae). A spatial variability analysis conducted using a 60-point grid, for an area with mosses (Sannionia uncianata) and D. antarctica, yielded a spherical semivariogram model for CO2-C emissions with a range of 1 m. The results suggest that soil temperature is a controlling factor on temporal variations in soil CO2-C emissions, although spatial variations appear to be more strongly related to the distribution of vegetation types. © 2010 Elsevier B.V. and NIPR.