The equity analyst for a large investment bank is in the process of evaluating a potential takeover of Shoppers Drug Mart, Canada’s largest drugstore retailer, by Loblaw Companies Limited, Canada’s largest grocery retailer. Rumours of the takeover have been circulating for some time, and the analyst wants to provide her buy-side clients with both her comments on the proposed transaction and her assessment of a reasonable offering price.
Garry Halper Menswear Limited (GHM) is a medium-sized manufacturer of superior-quality men’s suits and jackets that up to now have largely been distributed in Canada. The firm has landed a very large order for men’s suits with Sutton’s in the United States. To meet the order, the firm has decided to import partly completed suits from China. The treasurer of GHM must assess the financing needs and related risks that result from this large increase in sales. At the same time, he believes that the company’s present bank is timid in its response to the firm’s needs, and he would like to consider another banking relationship.
The president of SinYi Group was contemplating various ways of growing his highly successful Taiwanese real estate company in the mainland China market. SinYi had initially opened up company-operated branches and in 1999, in an effort to expand more quickly, he had obtained a Coldwell Banker master franchise under a joint SinYi/Coldwell brand. But SinYi’s growth in company-operated and franchised branches in China was still slow. He was considering whether he should establish a new company to run the franchise business exclusively using the Coldwell brand and reserve the SinYi brand for company-owned branches. This new approach would require a revision to the agreement with Coldwell Banker, which the president would need to evaluate.
In April 2009, Perdigão was contemplating the acquisition of Sadia and a merger of the two companies. The intended share-swap transaction between two of Brazil’s biggest food companies would allow Perdigão to dramatically grow its domestic and international market share, and become one of the world’s largest players in the food production industry, while driving up profit margins by benefiting from synergies. However, Sadia had very significant short and long debt that it was unlikely to be able to service. Students must determine whether Perdigão should acquire Sadia and the basis of the proposed share exchange, and assess whether the resulting debt burden of the combined companies is manageable.
The president and founder of the Taiwanese firm Shacom.com plans to set up an insurance scheme for low-income earners. A financial model for the operation has been created and students must assess the viability of the business, its adherence to financial regulations, and the risks that it entails.
The managing director at a major investment bank is preparing his team for a visit to Lululemon Athletica, a yoga-inspired athletic apparel company. The investment bank has been following Lululemon’s development over the past few years and is impressed by the company’s unique positioning and rapid growth. The bank believes that there is a window of opportunity for Lululemon’s founder and private equity investors to either undertake an initial public offering or raise debt to fund Lululemon’s U.S. expansion.
An equity analyst uses a variety of methods to value Wal-Mart shares with a view to making a buy/sell or hold recommendation for the stock. Her key task is to use an intrinsic value approach to price the shares and to then compare the resulting price with the price at which the stock is traded in the market.
The owner of Finchco plans to sell his company, which is a distributor of industrial materials. The purpose of the case is to utilize several valuation methods and suggest the possible deal structure. The situation is made somewhat more complicated because Finchco has a real estate subsidiary that must be valued, and because the company has a great opportunity to land a major new customer whose value must be included in the analysis.
This technical note uses information from the Canadian Bankruptcy Act, the Companies Creditors Arrangement Act, and the Personal Property Security Act to explain the way in which collateral security is obtained and to describe the rights of security holders in the event of bankruptcy or reorganization. The note includes the ranking of secured creditors and the most commonly recognized types of security interests.