Gatekeeper

Specialist advisers who assist institutional investors in their private equity allocation decisions. Institutional investors with little experience of the asset class or those with limited resources often use them to help manage their private equity allocation. Gatekeepers usually offer tailored services according to their clients’ needs, including private equity fund sourcing and due diligence through to complete discretionary mandates.

General Partner

A partner in a partnership who has unlimited personal liability for the debts and obligations of the partnership and the right to participate in its management.

General Partner’s Commitment

Fund managers typically invest their personal capital right alongside their investors’ capital, which often works to instill a higher level of confidence in the fund. The limited partners look for a meaningful general partner investment of 1% to 3% of the fund.

General Partnership

Form of partnership in which all partners are general partners. See ‘Partnership.’

Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP)

Rules and procedures generally accepted within the accounting profession in a particular jurisdiction (for example, ‘US GAAP’ or ‘UK GAAP’). See ‘IAS.’

Global Coordinator

The lead underwriter in simultaneous public offerings in several countries or on several exchanges. The Global Coordinator is responsible for coordinating the activities of the several underwriters responsible for their respective offering markets. See ‘Lead Manager/Lead Underwriter.’

Global Depository Receipts or Global Depository Shares (GDR or GDS)

GDRs are a mechanism used to facilitate the trading of a particular security in more than one market. A GDR is a negotiable receipt that represents an ownership interest in a specified number of securities that have been deposited with the depositary by the holder of such securities. A GDR is the physical certificate that evidences Global Depository Shares or GDSs (in much the same way that a stock certificate evidences shares of stock). See ‘ADR or ADS.’

Going Effective

(USA) The time at which the SEC declares a registration statement effective under the Securities Act of 1933, so that sales (not just offers) of the securities being registered can be made. See ‘Acceleration Order,’ ‘Acceleration Request,’ and ‘Effective Date.’ In the UK, the equivalent term is ‘Admission.’ See ‘Admission.’

Going Private

The transformation of a company from public to private ownership status, usually used in the context where old management remains involved with the company. A company may go private either by repurchasing its publicly traded shares or by having a third party purchase all, or substantially all, of the company’s outstanding shares. In the UK, the term ‘P2P’ (public to private) is also commonly used.

Golden Handcuffs

A method of insuring that key employees remain with the company for a certain period of time by granting the employees options or restricted shares of stock that vest over a period of time.

Golden Parachute

A contractual arrangement between a key employee and the company that provides for the payment of a large bonus or other payment to the employee upon the occurrence of certain events, such as termination of employment without cause or the merger or sale of the company.

Goodwill

The value of a business over and above its tangible assets. It includes the business’s reputation and contacts.

Grandstanding

When young, developing companies are rushed to an IPO by an inexperienced private equity organization in order to demonstrate a successful exit record for the management team.

Green Shoe or Shoe

Term for an underwriter’s over-allotment option. This name derives from the fact that the over-allotment option technique was first used in a public offering of the securities of the Green Shoe Company. See ‘Over-Allotment Option.’

Greenmail

Acquiring a large block of a public company’s securities and threatening a takeover, tender offer, proxy fight, or other action for the purpose of inducing the company to repurchase the securities at an above-market price.

Gun-Jumping

(USA) The offering of a security prior to the filing of a registration statement or during the registration process, or the publication of materials deemed to promote the sale of the company’s securities, other than through a prospectus filed with the SEC. See ‘Cooling-Off Period.’ ‘Quiet Period’ and ‘Waiting Period.’