When announcing their agreement to merge in December 2021, creating a clear leader in global pest control, UK-based Rentokil and Tennessee-based Terminix described extensive benefits of the cross-border combination. The companies touted the advantages of their combined scale, their complementary portfolios of products, regions and technologies, and the significant cost synergies. Yet, the markets seemed entirely unimpressed, with Rentokil's share price down 9% in the hours after the deal was announced. While the boards of both companies had recommended the merger, it would now be up to shareholders to decide. Was this deal a lifeline for long-suffering Terminix investors, who were increasingly apprehensive about the company's ability to improve performance? Was this the right moment for Rentokil to pursue such a large deal rather than continue with its historical approach of gradually consolidating the market? In short, would this proposed combination create value, and if so, for whom?
In 2021, the HBS Impact Investment Fund student team met with entrepreneur Teresa Maynard, who had applied for a $25,000 impact investment loan. The students thought the former Harvard Data Scientist's bakery business, Sweet Teez Bakery, showed promise. Maynard had bootstrapped the business, growing it from a small-scale venture to a point where she now considered expanding her corporate clientele and possibly opening a brick-and-mortar location. Alas, funding for such small businesses had been sparse, and Maynard needed working capital to take her business to the next level. The student team was eager to evaluate her financials and submit a recommendation to the investment committee. However, Maynard had taken meticulous records of her financial transactions but had yet to compile them into comprehensive financial statements, meaning that Sweet Teez's financial health was difficult to parse. The HBS student team wondered: How could they best build a reliable financial model from the currently fragmented historical information?
In fall 2021, Aliana Piñeiro, impact director at Boston Impact Initiative (BII) discovered that an entrepreneur the organization was considering for an investment had failed to disclose pre-existing debt with another lender. Although the business scored highly on BII's criteria for investment, Piñeiro and her colleagues had to reevaluate its risk profile in light of the additional debt. They also had to decide how to manage their relationship with the entrepreneur. The BII team determined an entrepreneur's creditworthiness through a series of in-depth conversations rather than using a one-size-fits-all application form. They also did not perform criminal background checks or credit checks. Nevertheless, they were disappointed that the entrepreneur had not disclosed his previous debt, and wondered why he had failed to bring it up in their previous conversations. At the conclusion of the case, Piñeiro and her team must decide whether to move forward with the investment and if so, how to address the issue with the entrepreneur.
Set in July 2021, this case looks at several growth strategies under consideration at Brown Capital, the second-oldest Black-owned asset management firm in the U.S. Since its 1983 founding, Baltimore-based Brown Capital has specialized in small company growth equity-investing in small, publicly traded companies with outsized growth potential. But with its successful, domestic small company fund closed to new investors since 2013, and its international small company fund on a similar trajectory, Brown Capital's pathway to sustained growth is unclear. Should it (1) reconsider closing its Morningstar 5-star rated international small company fund; (2) focus on its newer mid company fund, which has more capacity for growth and a recent uptick in performance; or (3) introduce new strategies and asset classes?
This case examines modern endowment investment management through the lens of a leadership transition between Chief Investment Officers (CIOs). In March 2021, Paula Volent is about to step down as the CIO of the endowment of Bowdoin College after twenty-one years, and is preparing to meet with her successor, Niles Bryant, to plan for the transition. Under Volent's leadership, the endowment has grown from about $433 million to almost $1.8 billion while providing the college a consistent annual payout of between 4% and 5% of the value of the endowment to fund its operations. While returns have been exceptional under Volent's leadership (as compared for example to most other college and university endowments), she is acutely aware of the challenges ahead driven by capital markets conditions, including the persistently low level of real and nominal interest rates relative to history, high equity valuations, and the flow of assets into alternative asset classes. At the same time, colleges such as Bowdoin have become increasingly reliant on endowments in order to be able to offer admission to the best students, regardless of their financial situation, as well as compensation and research budgets to attract the best faculty in a highly competitive environment. Without the support of a growing endowment, this cost inflation would require significant tuition increases and quite possibly cuts to financial aid. The case offers students ample opportunities to examine the link between the financial needs of an investor ("liabilities") and its assets, and to analyze how this translates into effective investment risk management, liquidity management, return targets and the tradeoff between risk and return, and portfolio structuring decisions. The case also provides opportunities to examine performance evaluation as well as strategies for manager selection in an actively managed portfolio.
Launched in 2015 by Melinda Gates, co-chair of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Pivotal Ventures is an investment and incubation company. The company aims to support and promote transformational ideas, people and organizations, and advance social progress for women and families in the U.S. Hoping to leverage and expand her expertise in mission-driven investing, Erin Harkless Moore (HBS 2012) recently took on the role of new Director of Investments in Pivotal Ventures. As the company prepares for the new phase of growth that would improve its position in the Venture Capital (VC) market, Harkless Moore is tasked to select the next VC fund that Pivotal Ventures would participate in as an investor. Which VC fund would allow Pivotal Ventures to support more diversity in VC investing? Should she change the scoring and review process that ultimately led the decision of which opportunity to invest in? How could Pivotal Ventures perform well and generate high returns while staying in line with its organizational goals?
In February 2011, Adam Koppel, a Managing Director at Brookside Capital, the public equity arm of Bain Capital, must decide whether to increase or exit the firm's position in Celgene Corporation. News has emerged that raises potential safety concerns associated with Celgene's key drug, Revlimid. In response, Celgene's share price has traded down 20% in the last two months, and is now almost 10% below the level where Brookside made their initial investment.
In February 2011, Adam Koppel, a Managing Director at Brookside Capital, the public equity arm of Bain Capital, must decide whether to increase or exit the firm's position in Celgene Corporation. News has emerged that raises potential safety concerns associated with Celgene's key drug, Revlimid. In response, Celgene's share price has traded down 20% in the last two months, and is now almost 10% below the level where Brookside made their initial investment.