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The North West Company cases allow students to take a cross-enterprise leadership approach in looking at the dilemma facing the president and chief executive officer of The North West Company (North West), a food and general merchandise retailer operating primarily in Northern Canada. In early 2003, North West had negotiated a master franchisor agreement with Giant Tiger Stores Limited (Giant Tiger) with the objective of opening stores west of Winnipeg. In contrast with North West's push system of product replenishment, Giant Tiger had developed a successful pull system that gave individual store managers tremendous leeway in ordering decisions. The president and CEO wonders whether there is an opportunity to drive better results by adopting Giant Tiger's pull system within its Northern stores. The upside potential may include higher sales and reduced inventory levels as merchandise is tailored for each community. On the other hand, North West may face logistics and human resources issues in attempting to adopt this new system. This case provides detailed information about North West, its environment and Giant Tiger. The supplements The North West Company (B): Supply Chain Management, product 9B07D008, and The North West Company (C): Human Resources, product 9B07C024, look at the supply chain and human resources issues.

Canadian Surgical Technologies and Advanced Robotics Centre (CSTAR) had had a successful year during which its new director had ensured that CSTAR's budget deficit was on target to be reduced by 50 per cent. CSTAR still faced significant hurdles to becoming financially stable and a leader in minimally invasive surgery (MIS). The director wanted CSTAR to be financially self-sustainable within two years, and identified goals to overcome these hurdles: development of a sustainable financing plan that would support its annual operating budget; setting strategies for its four revenue streams; and development of an operating plan to support CSTAR's new educational facility. Additionally, the MIS sector had no clear leader to set clinical care standards or establish industry best practices. The director wondered how CSTAR could position itself to fulfill that leadership role and generate funding through its business development activities. As director of the centre, he had to design these strategies and design a financing plan to push CSTAR into the black.

Murray Douglas is the new chief executive officer (CEO) of Douglas Fine Foods (DFF), a family-owned business in its 80th year. Headquartered in Calgary, Alberta, DFF has grown to become Canada's largest privately held food services company, doing $30 million worth of business annually. DFF provides business dining, residence and camp food services, catering, vending machine services, and food service equipment and design. The business serves clients in various industries including schools, sports arenas and concessions, warehouses, government offices and corporations. Douglas needs to make several key decisions concerning DFF, including how to pay for a buyout of his brother's shares; whether to renew a contract with an undesirable customer; whether to pursue an active acquisition strategy; and how to transform the business to become a world-class, professionally managed organization. Students must evaluate complexities and trade-offs in making a sequence of decisions; outline a clear strategy and vision for the company; prioritize strategic options; define elements of an acquisition strategy; determine financing options for cash-constrained firm; and manage internal culture transformation.

An analyst for a private equity firm has been asked to design a capital structure for the leveraged buyout of a security alarm company. Students are provided with an extensive financial model, which facilitates the analysis. Key issues in the case involve the design of covenants for the debt instruments and determining which alternative financing arrangement leads to the best rate of return while managing the level of risk.

Shenzhen Zhongjin Lingnan Nonfemet Co. (SZLN) is a Chinese company that is contemplating the purchase of an Australian mining company. The management of SZLN must assess the merits of the acquisition, the offer to be made, how it is to be financed and the political implications of the purchase for both the governments of China and Australia.

The Li family, the sole owners of Hongxing Auto Sales and Service, are ready to sell the company. They must determine how much the business is worth and the best method of negotiating the sale of the business. This case deals with the valuation of a small, privately-owned business, and will develop students' skills in sizing up a business and placing a value on a business using a variety of methods, including liquidation value, discounted cash flow and price-earnings multiples.

The chief financial officer of Granite Apparel is trying to determine which of the three fundraising options is optimal for Granite Apparel to finance a projected rapid growth strategy. The three options are an initial public offering of equity, a privately placed debt issue and a private placement of preferred shares.

The chairman of the board of Groupworks, a company created to consolidate independent brokers in the benefits industry, is faced with three issues. First, he must manage a liquidity problem related to debt that is coming due. Second, he must assess the merits of acquiring another company and, if the company is acquired, he must design the offering package. Third, he must review the firm's consolidation strategy. The case also lends itself to a detailed discussion of the various accounting practices employed by the company.

The Li family, the sole owners of Hongxing Auto Sales and Service, are ready to sell the company. They must determine how much the business is worth and the best method of negotiating the sale of the business. This case deals with the valuation of a small, privately-owned business, and will develop students' skills in sizing up a business and placing a value on a business using a variety of methods, including liquidation value, discounted cash flow and price-earnings multiples.

Spreadsheet for instructors for product 8B09N12.

Excel spreadsheet for students.

The investment manager at Prairie Ventures Limited, a Saskatchewan based venture capital firm, is examining the merits of financing a management buyout of Crestline Coach, a manufacturer of ambulances and distributor of buses. Students must design a term sheet and create an appropriate financing package. Students are provided with an Excel model to assist in their analysis.

In April 2007, the senior vice-president and chief financial officer (CEO) of Crown Investments Corporation of Saskatchewan (CIC) was faced with a challenging decision. CIC was contemplating the sale of 50 per cent interest in a heavy oil upgrader and wanted an assessment of the worth of the company. To obtain a reasonable estimate, the CEO had instructed an independent advisor with industry experience to provide input. In addition to receiving an estimate of value (based on the methods of free cash flow, comparables and precedent transactions), the CEO also had to formulate a strategy for selling off the company.

LAB International (LAB) has two divisions that have vastly different strategies. The research and development division has a continuing need for funding and a high degree of risk, while the contract research division is a cash generator and is less risky. LAB is attempting to raise additional capital but believes that the shares of the company are undervalued in the market. It is contemplating a spinoff of one of the divisions to raise the funds and to make each company more of a pure play and therefore to achieve a more appropriate market valuation. Students must assess the merits of this strategy and place a value on the spinoff.

An analyst at IGM Financial (IGM) is asked to make a presentation outlining the final details of the proposed acquisition of Saxon Financial (Saxon). The analysis was to include the strategic rationale for the acquisition, an estimate of the proposed offering price for Saxon and whether or not the acquisition would be accretive to earnings per share of IGM. To complete the assignment the analyst had to calculate a preliminary valuation range based on several different valuation methodologies.

An analyst at IGM Financial (IGM) is asked to make a presentation outlining the final details of the proposed acquisition of Saxon Financial (Saxon). The analysis was to include the strategic rationale for the acquisition, an estimate of the proposed offering price for Saxon and whether or not the acquisition would be accretive to earnings per share of IGM. To complete the assignment the analyst had to calculate a preliminary valuation range based on several different valuation methodologies.

LAB International (LAB) has two divisions that have vastly different strategies. The research and development division has a continuing need for funding and a high degree of risk, while the contract research division is a cash generator and is less risky. LAB is attempting to raise additional capital but believes that the shares of the company are undervalued in the market. It is contemplating a spinoff of one of the divisions to raise the funds and to make each company more of a pure play and therefore to achieve a more appropriate market valuation. Students must assess the merits of this strategy and place a value on the spinoff.

In April 2007, the senior vice-president and chief financial officer (CEO) of Crown Investments Corporation of Saskatchewan (CIC) was faced with a challenging decision. CIC was contemplating the sale of 50 per cent interest in a heavy oil upgrader and wanted an assessment of the worth of the company. To obtain a reasonable estimate, the CEO had instructed an independent advisor with industry experience to provide input. In addition to receiving an estimate of value (based on the methods of free cash flow, comparables and precedent transactions), the CEO also had to formulate a strategy for selling off the company.

The purpose of this note is to provide a brief non-technical introduction to the field of patents and their commercial implications. The note takes the perspective of the investor (entrepreneur) by describing the process of registering patents, the potential pitfalls and the possible economic benefits of having a patent.

This technical note discusses the methods and factors that investment bankers and venture capitalists take into account when placing a value on the shares of biotech companies.