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This case explores the decision-making process that small, private businesses must undertake when considering an expansion and when selling equity to outside investors. In the process, students are asked to complete two exercises: a break-even analysis and a valuation exercise.

The systematic analysis of an annual report of a large Canadian public company provides a framework and a set of skills and concepts to determine whether it is worth investing in the company. The detailed examination of the annual report includes an analysis of profitability - including return on capital employed, return on equity, return on sales, gross profit margin and asset turnover - and liquidity measures.

Covalent Laboratories Private Ltd. is involved in the manufacture of active pharmaceutical ingredients and bulk drugs in Hyderabad, India. In March 2012, the company added a new manufacturing plant and was in the process of obtaining regulatory approvals for its products from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and the European Directorate of Quality of Medicines. Anticipating good growth, the company approached the Commercial Development Bank of India in June 2014 for sanction of a term loan of INR350 million over seven years towards expansion and modernization of its existing manufacturing facilities, including the construction of a captive power plant and effluent treatment plant. As the proposed financial assistance is long term in nature and the company is a new client with average financial strength, the head of the bank's Corporate Banking Department faces a dilemma. He has asked a credit analyst to research the financial performance of the company and to assess the financial viability of and identify the risks in the proposal.

Covalent Laboratories Private Ltd. is involved in the manufacture of active pharmaceutical ingredients and bulk drugs in Hyderabad, India. In March 2012, the company added a new manufacturing plant and was in the process of obtaining regulatory approvals for its products from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and the European Directorate of Quality of Medicines. Anticipating good growth, the company approached the Commercial Development Bank of India in June 2014 for sanction of a term loan of INR350 million over seven years towards expansion and modernization of its existing manufacturing facilities, including the construction of a captive power plant and effluent treatment plant. As the proposed financial assistance is long term in nature and the company is a new client with average financial strength, the head of the bank’s Corporate Banking Department faces a dilemma. He has asked a credit analyst to research the financial performance of the company and to assess the financial viability of and identify the risks in the proposal.

Spreadsheet supplement for case 215058.

Spreadsheet supplement for case 215058.

Susan Barney, chief financial officer of Parcel Expeditors (Parcel), a thriving same-day package delivery company headquartered in the United States, had to make some decisions. The management of Parcel was planning to take the company public in the coming year but they had yet to determine the accounting for certain pension plan costs. The most important goal for management was to provide investors with useful information for their decision making; however, Barney was unsure as to how different choices allowed within the pension accounting standard might impact earnings. In order to assess the impact of each standard, Barney decided to evaluate the pension accounting of a few competitors in the package delivery industry.

Asahi India Glass Limited faces a situation encountered by many growing companies after having funded its diversification from retained earnings and debt, both in rupees and foreign currency. An over-reliance on borrowed funds without a matching infusion of equity has plunged the company into losses. To reduce its need for financial leverage, the company has issued equity shares on a rights basis, which has helped but is insufficient to reduce its debt burden. The company’s management is seeking alternatives to further deleverage the company’s capital structure but is finding it difficult due to losses in the recent past, the adverse operating environment created by the global economic crisis and a slowdown in the major segments in which it operates.

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.

Kingfisher Airlines, a leading airline company in India, had incurred substantial losses and its net worth had been eroded. This news was widely covered by Indian and international press. Analysts and media were of the opinion that Kingfisher needed equity infusion to steer it through the distress. Because of its financial difficulties, the company's stock was trading at near-historic lows and its equity value was, in fact, negative. Yet company management was emphatic that Kingfisher was on the road to recovery although it was negotiating a second debt restructuring with banks. Would this restructuring prove more successful than the last? Could anything save Kingfisher from this dire financial situation?

Kingfisher Airlines, a leading airline company in India, had incurred substantial losses and its net worth had been eroded. This news was widely covered by Indian and international press. Analysts and media were of the opinion that Kingfisher needed equity infusion to steer it through the distress. Because of its financial difficulties, the company’s stock was trading at near historic lows and its equity value was, in fact, negative. Yet company management was emphatic that Kingfisher was on the road to recovery although it was negotiating a second debt restructuring with banks. Would this restructuring prove more successful than the last? Could anything save Kingfisher from this dire financial situation?

In the summer of 2011, Jim Frates, CFO of Alkermes faced choices about how to finance the acquisition of Dublin, Ireland-based Elan Drug Technologies (EDT) - a deal that was expected to close in the fall. The case describes the history of Alkermes, provides information about the planned merger, and details the funding options. The case gives students the opportunity to analyze the role CFOs play in biopharmaceutical firms, to evaluate the attractiveness of the merger, and to select a funding option.

This case analyzes IBM's financial performance and its capital allocation decisions over a 10-year period from 2004-2013, during which IBM returned more than $140B to shareholders through a combination of dividends and share repurchases. During this time, CEO Sam Palmisano's created, announced, and then regularly updated a long-term financial "roadmap" as part of the firm's strategic transformation. The roadmap showed both a destination (a target EPS number) and a detailed path to that destination in terms of revenue growth, margin expansion, and share repurchases. After successfully achieving its first roadmap, the firm announced a second 5-year roadmap known as the "2015 EPS roadmap". The case is set in May 2014, just after IBM's annual investor briefing. Despite more than 10 years of strong financial performance, IBM reported relatively weak financial results in the first quarter of 2014. Sophia Johnson, an equity analyst, must decide whether to revise her investment recommendation based on what she heard that day.

Female Health Company produces the female condom which is distributed by non-profit organisations in Africa to prevent HIV/AIDS. In February 2009 the company has to decide whether to buy back stock. This provides an opportunity to check whether the firm is fairly valued and whether it should reconsider its capital structure and payout policy.

Private equity (PE) refers to illiquid investments or securities that are not publicly traded on an exchange, such as venture capital, mezzanine or distressed debt, leveraged buyouts, timber, oil and gas properties, and real estate. A limited partnership agreement (LPA) defines the terms of the relationship between the general partners (GPs) and the limited partners (LPs). The structure and compensation arrangements used by PE firms are highly standardized and a working knowledge of frequently employed terms and arrangements of LPAs is important to understanding the division of the profits and the drivers of returns in the industry. This note describes some of the basic features of LPAs with a particular focus on the basic terminology and compensation practices that relate to GPs and LPs.

This case updates the events in "Generating Higher Value at IBM (A)," HBS case 215-058.

This note was written as an updated version of "The Early-Stage Term Sheet" (UV2526) and may be used in its place. In seeking funding for an early-stage company, the entrepreneur and investor will confront choices about the amount, terms, and conditions of the financing. These terms are usually set forth in a term sheet that contains a host of provisions designed to protect the value of an investor's capital. These terms define the investor's rights as a holder of a senior security to common stock and are designed to secure the investor's ownership position, provide the right to monitor and control important company decisions, and facilitate exit from the investment. The note focuses on a few key aspects of these terms-antidilution, liquidation preference, dividends, control rights, and redemption-all of which are widely regarded by practitioners as having the greatest ability to affect the economic returns for the parties involved in an early-stage investment. Although not meant to be exhaustive, the examples offer a perspective on how a term can be worded in order to confer differential rights between the parties.

In mid-October 2007, the chief executive officer (CEO) of the TSX Group was contemplating his strategic options. In March 2009, a decade-long non-compete agreement between the TSX Group and the Montréal Exchange would expire. Under this agreement, the former had been the sole exchange for trading senior equities in Canada while the latter had the monopoly on exchange-traded derivative contracts. Afterwards, both exchanges would be able to compete directly in their respective businesses. The CEO believed a merger between the two Canadian exchanges made strategic sense, especially given the current merger wave globally, but his counterpart had rebuffed his advances. What was the best way to bring his rival to the bargaining table? Should the TSX Group make a hostile bid? How much of a premium for shares should be offered?