個案總覽

What price should Dow Chemical bid for PBB, a petrochemical complex that is being privatized by the Argentine government? To answer this question, students are forced to consider the role of country risk, the underlying currency exposure of the business, and how to value an investment opportunity that has several stages. Given that it is a privatization, students are also forced to consider the political dynamics involved, the incentives of local managers, and the bidding process of a privatization. The case provides detailed cash flows and discount rate information, allowing students to conduct a thorough valuation for an emerging markets project. To obtain executable spreadsheets (courseware), please contact our customer service department at [email protected].

The Brazilian oil company, Petrobras, is evaluating the acquisition of an Argentine oil company, the Perez Companc Group (Pecom). The acquisition would increase Petrobras' oil reserves and expand its interests outside Brazil, a significant step for the largest company in Brazil. Pecom is for sale because it has been severely affected by the financial crisis in Argentina. Students have the opportunity to assess the impact of a severe devaluation on a company. There is also considerable uncertainty about how to value Pecom, and students must weigh the importance of country risk in determining the appropriate discount rate to use in the valuation. Finally, there is also uncertainty about Petrobras's own future as the Brazilian government has controlled it. Students are allowed to review the efficacy of changes in corporate governance implemented by Petrobras, despite its ongoing link to the Brazilian state and the associated political uncertainties of that affiliation. Students will consider different methods of valuation and the impact of politics on cross-border acquisitions. To obtain executable spreadsheets (courseware), please contact our customer service department at [email protected].

The Global Conservation Fund is an international nonprofit organization with a $100 million endowment and an exclusive focus on land preservation. The fund and its director must decide which projects to fund over the next year and what financing mechanism to use. Describes the fund's efforts to develop a rating system for projects and various financing options used by conservation organizations, including debt-for-nature swaps, carbon credits, and conservation trust funds. Teaching purpose: To evaluate alternative projects in a nonprofit setting and to consider alternative financial instruments to advance biodiversity conservation.

A team of private equity investors must value the leveraged buyout of a Yellow Pages business that operated in both the United States and the United Kingdom. In the process, they must wrestle with issues of how to conduct cross-border valuations and how to value a stable cashcow business along with a growth business. The case analyzes the economics and incentives of carried interest and compares different valuation methods--Capital Cash Flow and Free Cash Flow.

The CFO of this infant nutritional products company must choose among competing financing offers. The interplay of Chinese legal and customs restrictions and venture capitalists' bargaining techniques challenge the CFO to navigate a tricky negotiation and to devise a unique business model given these constraints. The case provides a valuation exercise and highlights some of the difficult questions a discerning venture capitalist might ask, requiring the CFO to justify his overall business model and working capital needs. To obtain executable spreadsheets (courseware), please contact our customer service department at [email protected].

This case provides the outcome to "The Refinancing of Shanghai General Motors (A)" in which the CFO of General Motors' joint venture in Shanghai, Shanghai General Motors (SGM), wants to refinance almost $900 million of project finance it raised to begin operations. The highest priority is improving the terms of the financing with regard to costs and specific covenants. Several factors complicate the CFO's objective, including the presence of capital controls, the impending entry of China into the World Trade Organization, the joint venture partner's captive finance subsidiary, and the conflicting goals of the joint venture partners. The case illustrates how subsidiary financial decisions must trade off entity-level and parent-level concerns. It also illustrates how multinational financial decision making--including transfer pricing, repatriation, and funding decisions--must be designed to accommodate governance concerns, financial objectives, and the potentially divergent interests of joint venture partners. The framework of the ongoing operational and investment decisions that Shanghai General Motors undertakes in its early growth dmeonstrates the "life cycle" of subsidiary finance. The case also touches on elements of foreign governments' attempts to regulate capital markets, the dynamic between domestic and international banks in competing for lending opportunities to multinational subsidiaries, and how subsidiary management can achieve the most desirable funding terms.

The CFO of General Motors' joint venture in Shanghai, Shanghai General Motors (SGM), wants to refinance almost $900 million of project finance it raised to begin operations. The highest priority is improving the terms of the financing with regard to costs and specific covenants. Several factors complicate the CFO's objective, including the presence of capital controls, the impending entry of China into the World Trade Organization, the joint venture partner's captive finance subsidiary, and the conflicting goals of the joint venture partners. The case illustrates how subsidiary financial decisions must trade off entity-level and parent-level concerns. It also illustrates how multinational financial decision making--including transfer pricing, repatriation, and funding decisions--must be designed to accommodate governance concerns, financial objectives, and the potentially divergent interests of joint venture partners. The framework of the on-going operational and investment decisions that Shanghai General Motors undertakes in its early growth demonstrates the "life cycle" of subsidiary finance. The case also touches on elements of foreign governments' attempts to regulate capital markets, the dynamic between domestic and international banks in competing for lending opportunities to multinational subsidiaries, and how subsidiary management can achieve the most desirable funding terms.

This case considers the alternative financing mechanisms for film financing, the evolution of film finance in the United States, and the nature of tax-motivated film financing in the United States and around the world. It develops the strategy driving motion picture finance and the various instruments that advance that strategy. Aggregate trends in those financing patterns are examined with special attention paid to tax-driven financing strategies. It concludes with an evaluation of the international market in fiscal incentives for motion picture finance.

The head of production for Rexford Studios must analyze the terms and value consequences of an international financing involving a German film fund. The financing involves a sale-leaseback structure where international tax rules give rise to a sizable economic pie that is divided up among the fund investors, the studio, and the arrangers. To conduct the negotiation, the producer must value the cash flow streams to each of the parties and recognize the nature of the tax arbitrage in the context of his overall financing needs. As a consequence, the major issues involved in film financing and the nature of sale-leaseback transactions driven by tax considerations are explored, as is the competition between countries for film production. Finally, the underlying determinants of opportunities created by international tax rules are valued. To obtain executable spreadsheets (courseware), please contact our customer service department at [email protected].

In response to Stanley Work's announcement that it is moving to Bermuda--and the associated jump in market value--a major competitor sets out to determine how the market is valuing the consequences of moving to a tax haven and whether his company should invert to a tax haven. In particular, the competitor's CFO needs to attribute Stanley's stock price movements across several dimensions of potential tax savings (tax savings on foreign operations and on interest payments) to see if there might be something else at play (earnings stripping). In the process, the mechanics and incentives created by the international tax regime are illustrated. To obtain executable spreadsheets (courseware), please contact our customer service department at [email protected].

Provident Life & Accident Insurance Co. has made an initial bid to acquire a primary competitor, Paul Revere, from conglomerate, Textron. The due diligence process uncovers a significant block of problematic disability insurance policies. Provident is forced to assess the negative impact of this discovery on its initial valuation and revise its bid. In the process, the divergent views of the evolution of these policies by the bidder and seller have to be translated through discounted cash flow analysis into appropriate bid prices. Finally, this DCF analysis, in combination with multiples analysis, is used in negotiations with Textron and public shareholders.

Spreadsheet Supplement for case 202044

Project Achieve is a start-up providing information management solutions for schools. Its founders see a need for software both to manage the volumes of information necessary to administer a school and to connect parents, teachers, and students in a more effective way. Originally funded by angel investors, Project Achieve is raising its first formal round of financing and needs to establish a firm valuation. This case outlines the economics of the business and provides the necessary background figures to build the business model and arrive at a valuation. Explores quantitative considerations of venture financing: 1) value neutrality of equity issuance is illustrated; 2) cost of capital is computed from raw return series, and the appropriate discount rate is selected based on comparables; 3) decision trees are used to highlight the importance of probabilistic thinking; and (4) subscriber models are compared with annual free cash flow models both for determining financial value and as decision-making tools for business choices. In addition, provides a setting to discuss the more qualitative issues involved in choosing investors. In particular, the founders are comparing two options: an infusion of additional capital from current and new investors or an investment from a potential strategic partner. Each option has very different implications for the direction of the business going forward.

CSFB equity research analyst Laura Martin publishes a report on valuing Cox Communications that introduces an innovative approach to valuation. She contends that EBITDA multiple analysis, typical for the cable industry, is flawed because it overlooks the value of the "stealth tier" (unused capacity on cable companies' fiber optic network). Martin proposes using real options valuation to impute value to the stealth tier, and she thereby arrives at a higher valuation for Cox stock. This provides the context for contrasting several valuation methodologies--traditional DCF analysis, regression-based ROIC and multiple analysis, and real option theory--and assessing how selected assumptions impact the various valuation techniques. In particular, Martin reviews ways in which the industry is evolving and students can think about how these changes impact which valuation method is most appropriate. More generally, this case provides a context for discussing the role of equity research analysts, highlighting all the constituencies they serve and how this can create conflicts of interest. Martin's application of real options theory provides an opportunity to evaluate where it works, where it doesn't, and why.

Supplements the (A) case.

An entrepreneur is forced to analyze the tradeoffs between different equity providers through a detailed analysis of venture financing terms and cash flow forecasts. The founder of a Web-based IMS for schools must negotiate a term sheet, determine funding needs, value her company, and finalize a venture deal. To obtain executable spreadsheets (courseware), please contact our customer service department at [email protected].

A large, lucrative power plant is negotiated for construction/operation by an American power company in India's evolving privatized power sector. The process of incorporating the project is captured in this case. The American company will own and operate the plant in India, which will sell power to India.

Underscores the arbitrage implicit in the pricing of a complex unit of debt and warrants issued by the Coca-Cola Co.

Provides an introduction to zero coupon bonds and stripping coupon bonds. Concerns the relationship between the spot curve, the strip curve, and the coupon curve.