PE firms and buyouts have emerged as a field of significant interest for academic research and attracted the increasing attention of policy makers, public opinion and popular press. In particular, there is a strong debate on how private equity firms create value in buyout investments. Notwithstanding this widespread interest in value creation in private equity, there is a lack of research offering an overall view of the various mechanisms by which value can be created in buyout investments. We contribute to shed new light on this issue by reviewing the body of research on value creation and by proposing an overall framework for mapping the heterogeneous opportunities to create value.