個案總覽

In July 2010, William Ackman, the founder of Pershing Square, is considering a potential new opportunity: the acquisition of the distressed Stuyvesant Town and Peter Cooper Village ("ST /PCV") complex. The property had recently been abandoned by its owners and had come under the control of CW Capital, the special servicer for the vast amount of debt that was in default. Any investment in a distressed property could be very risky and might require the company to seek protection in the bankruptcy courts. While the bankruptcy process was not new for Ackman, it could add significant complexity and unknown outcomes. Ackman must consider whether this is a worthwhile investment, given the ambiguous valuation and significant public scrutiny of any investment deal.

Kevin Laracey, founder of Paydiant, needed to figure out how to launch a payment processing company with a new technology based on smart phones. Consumers had increasingly turned to electronic payment methods such as credit cards and debit cards to make purchases. Retailers, however, felt that major credit and debit card issuers had too much market power which was leading to higher costs for retailers to accept such payment forms. Consumers were increasingly adopting smart phones and using those phones to manage their lives. Market watchers believed that consumers would soon demand to use their smart phones to make purchases. Retailers liked this because it increased competition in the payments industry. Paydiant had developed a software-based product that required no new hardware for retailers and enabled consumers to use their smart phones to make purchases. The company needed to decide how to bring this new product to market. The case also describes the existing payment processing market structure, identifies some of its major players, and introduces some other new entrants into the payment industry.