Capital IQ

Help Sheet

Quick Reference Guide

Capital IQ is an information service that is particularly relevant to those who are interested in investment banking, investment management, private equity, and corporate/business development.

Some of the ways in which you can benefit from Capital IQ include:

Coursework and Analysis Applications

• Very detailed information on public companies, private companies, private capital firms, executives and directors, industry sectors, and transactions on a global basis.
• A wide range of timesaving tools for building comps, charts, models, company reports, buyer/investor lists, etc.

Idea Generation

• Screen across 450,000+ organizations and 600,000+ professionals based on financials as well as 250+ qualitative items such as education (i.e., HBS alumni), job functions, transaction history, corporate actions, etc.
• "Six Degrees of Separation" - Find common bonds and generate potential "warm" call leads by mapping a person's web of professional relationships.

Interview Preparation

• Quickly gain a holistic understanding of any company or firm including competitive landscape, transaction history, third-party affiliations, key people and their backgrounds, etc.
• Identify and understand the nature of company-to-company, person-to-person relationship connections based on events, transactions, and affiliations.

Search Examples:

List of Private Equity Firms who prefer to invest in the media sector in California

Chinese companies that have received PE investments in the past three years

Private Equity firms in London where HBS alumni work

A List of all the Secondary Buyouts the have occurred in the past year

Air Freight companies that have received PE investments from 2002-06 – How many of these deals were in the U.S. versus other regions of the world?

List of Private Equity Firms who prefer to invest in the media sector in California

To do this search:

1. Go to the Capital IQ database at - http://www.library.hbs.edu/go/capitaliq.html. Scroll down the screen and click on "Go to Database".
2. Then in the screen that appears, click on the tab at the top of the screen that says "Screening and Analytics" and then pick "Company Screening".
3. Click on "Investment Type" under "Company Details" on the left of the screen. Scroll down and under "Available Items" click on "Private Equity Investing" and move this to the right in the box labeled "Selected Items". Then click "Add Criteria" in the lower right.
4. Then click on "Industries of Interest" under "Investment Criteria". Then search for "media" in the search box, and click on that selection with your mouse, and then click "Add Criteria" in the lower right.
5. Click on "Geographies of Interest" under "Investment Criteria". Click on the "+" sign next to United States and Canada to open the menu. Then click to open "United States of America", then "West Coast", and then select "California" by clicking in the box to the left of that listing and then "Add Criteria".
6. From the final results listed, under "Criteria and Results" click on the final number of "Total Matching Companies" to view results.
7. The list of transactions will appear. Click on any of the hyperlinks to get extensive information on any of the listings. To add fields to your report, click on "Add Display Columns" to the right. To download all the results to an Excel file, at the top of the screen under "Reporting Options" choose "Excel" and from the pull-down menu select "All Companies" and then to the right of the screen, click on "Go". A prompt will appear to open the file in Excel.

Chinese companies that have received PE investments in the past three years

To do this search:

1. Go to the Capital IQ database at - http://www.library.hbs.edu/go/capitaliq.html. Scroll down the screen and click on "Go to Database".
2. Then in the screen that appears, click on the tab at the top of the screen that says "Screening and Analytics" and then pick "Transaction Screening".
3. Click on "Geographic Locations" under "Company Details" on the left of the screen. Then search for "China" and click your mouse in the box to the left of the listing to select it. Towards the bottom of the screen, make sure "Target/Issuer" is selected. Then click on "Add Criteria" in the lower right.
4. Then under "General Transaction Details", click on "Primary Features" and choose "Private Placement-Growth Capital/Private Equity" and move this to the right in the box labeled "Selected Items". Then click "Add Criteria". Then under "Company Details" click on "Company Type". Under "Available Items" click on "Private Investment Firm" and then click on the ">" arrow, so the the entry goes into the box to the right labeled "Selected Items". And then from the pull-down menu below labeled "This criterion describes" select "Buyers/Investors" and then click "Add Criteria".
5. Also click on "Transaction Dates" and choose "Last 3 years" from the pull-down menu and then click "Add Criteria".
6. From the final results listed, under "Criteria and Results" click on the final number of "Total Matching Companies" to view results.
7. The list of transactions will appear. Click on the announced or closing dates to get an extensive deal overview for any of the listings. To add fields to your report, click on "Add Display Columns" to the right. To download all the results to an Excel file, at the top of the screen under "Reporting Options" choose "Excel" and from the pull-down menu select "All Transactions" and then to the right of the screen, click on "Go". A prompt will appear to open the file in Excel.

Private Equity firms in London where HBS alumni work

To do this search:

1. Go to the Capital IQ database at - http://www.library.hbs.edu/go/capitaliq.html. Scroll down the screen and click on "Go to Database".
2. Then in the screen that appears, click on the tab at the top of the screen that says "Screening and Analytics" and then pick "Company Screening".
3. Click on "Investment Type" under "Company Details" on the left of the screen. Scroll down and under "Available Items" click on "Private Equity Investing" and move this to the right in the box labeled "Selected Items". Then click "Add Criteria" in the lower right.
4. Click on "Geographic Locations" under "Company Details". Search for London. Select "Greater London" and then click on "Add Criteria".
5. Click on "Colleges/Universities" under "Education". Search for the term Harvard in the search box and click "Go". From the selections that appear, click on "Harvard Business School" and move this to the right in the box labeled "Selected Companies". Then click on "Add Criteria" in the lower right.
6. From the final results listed, under "Criteria and Results" click on the final number of "Total Matching Companies" to view results.
7. The list of transactions will appear. Click on any of the hyperlinks to get extensive information on any of the listings. To add fields to your report, click on "Add Display Columns" to the right. To download all the results to an Excel file, at the top of the screen under "Reporting Options" choose "Excel" and from the pull-down menu select "All Companies" and then to the right of the screen, click on "Go". A prompt will appear to open the file in Excel.

A List of all the Secondary Buyouts the have occurred in the past year

To do this search:

1. Go to the Capital IQ database at - http://www.library.hbs.edu/go/capitaliq.html. Scroll down the screen and click on "Go to Database".
2. Then in the screen that appears, click on the tab at the top of the screen that says "Screening and Analytics" and then pick "Transaction Screening".
3. On the right side of the screen, under "General Transaction Details", click on "Transaction Dates" and choose "Announced/Initial Filing Date", then under "Timeframe" to the right from the pull-down menu choose "Last 12 Months", and then click on "Add Criteria" in the lower right part of the screen.
4. Then click on "Transaction Dates" again, and from the pull-down menu choose "Closed/Registration Effective". Then under "Timeframe" to the right from the pull-down menu choose "Last 12 Months", and then under "Add Criterion" to the lower left, click on the radio button for "Expand Existing Criterion (OR)", and then click on "Add Criteria" in the lower right part of the screen.
5. Then under "Company Details" click on "Company Type". Under "Available Items" click on "Private Investment Firm" and then click on the ">" arrow, so the the entry goes into the box to the right labeled "Selected Items". And then from the pull-down menu below labeled "This criterion describes" select "Buyers/Investors" and then click "Add Criteria".
6. Then under "Company Details" click on "Company Type". Under "Available Items" click on "Private Investment Firm" and then click on the ">" arrow, so the entry goes into the box to the right labeled "Selected Items". And then from the pull-down menu below labeled "This criterion describes" select "Seller" and then click "Add Criteria".
7. Then click on "Status" under "General Transaction Details" and select "Announced" and "Closed" and move them to the right of the screen and then click "Add Criteria".
8. From the final results listed, under "Criteria and Results" click on the final number of "Total Matching Companies" to view results.
9. The list of transactions will appear. Click on any of the hyperlinks to get extensive information on any of the listings. To add fields to your report, click on "Add Display Columns" to the right. To download all the results to an Excel file, at the top of the screen under "Reporting Options" choose "Excel" and from the pull-down menu select "All Transactions" and then to the right of the screen, click on "Go". A prompt will appear to open the file in Excel.

Air Freight companies that have received PE investments from 2002-06 – How many of these deals were in the U.S. versus other regions of the world?

To do this search:

1. Go to the Capital IQ database at - http://www.library.hbs.edu/go/capitaliq.html. Scroll down the screen and click on "Go to Database".
2. Then in the screen that appears, click on the tab at the top of the screen that says "Screening and Analytics" and then pick "Transaction Screening".
3. Click on "Industry Classifications" under "Company Details" on the left of the screen. Then search for "air freight" and click your mouse in the box to the left of the listing for "Air Freight and Logistics" to select it. Towards the bottom of the screen, make sure "Target/Issuer" is selected. Then click on "Add Criteria" in the lower right.
4. Then under "Company Details" click on "Company Type". Under "Available Items" click on "Private Investment Firm" and then click on the ">" arrow, so that the entry goes into the box to the right labeled "Selected Items". And then from the pull-down menu below labeled "This criterion describes" select "Buyers/Investors" and then click "Add Criteria".
5. Then click on "Transaction Dates" and choose From: 01/01/2002 To: 12/31/2006 and then click "Add Criteria".
6. Click on "Geographic Locations" under "Company Details" on the left of the screen. Then click your mouse in the boxes to the left of the listings for "Africa/Middle East", "Asia", "Europe", "Latin America and Caribbean", and "United States and Canada", to select all the regions. Towards the bottom of the screen, make sure "Target/Issuer" is selected. Then click on "Add Criteria" in the lower right.
7. From the final results listed, under "Matches" click on the final number of "Total Matching Transactions" to view results.
8. The list of transactions will appear. Click on the announced or closing dates to get an extensive deal overview for any of the listings. To add fields to your report, click on "Add Display Columns" to the right. To download all the results to an Excel file, at the top of the screen under "Reporting Options" choose "Excel" and from the pull-down menu select "All Transactions" and then to the right of the screen, click on "Go". A prompt will appear to open the file in Excel.
9. Once in Excel, sort deals in spreadsheet by Geographic Location.