個案總覽

Supplement to 9B14N028.

The case focuses on a European private equity form - Ardian - and the process it uses to sell one of its portfolio companies, and the decisions around that sale. Key issues include the choice of an auction or acceptance of a pre-emptive bid, and the role of the portfolio company's management in the process. The case explores the kinds of influence company management can, and should, have in the sale process. The case also explores issues at the PE firm level, including the fact that the firm has recently been spun off out of its large parent financial services firm, and how the GP entity was valued during that spin-out.

Sound financial management is the most important element in the viability of any business undertaking, and capital investment decisions are the foundation stone of this process. A company can pursue either an internal, organic approach to its financing options or an external, inorganic approach that uses borrowed funds to make acquisitions it hopes will increase its business. This is the route taken by Bharti Airtel Limited, India’s leading telecommunications giant. Beginning in 2010, it has borrowed heavily on the international market to invest in acquisitions of a 3G licence in India, in Zain Africa and in the broadband wireless access branch of Qualcomm Inc. However, due to many causes — including the effects of the global recession on the industry; the highly competitive Indian telecommunications market; restructuring and disorganization in the firm’s top management; and lack of innovation in offering and delivering new services in India — the company has experienced not the growth it expected from its expansion strategy, but a steady decline in profits. How can the management turn this situation around and regain the company’s position as a leader in the telecommunications market in India and globally?

Student spreadsheet for KEL824.

Student Spreadsheet for KEL819.

Mobile Internet has imposed an increasing impact on traditional finance. Firstly, some financial business modules can be operated via mobile Internet, and the corresponding transaction cost is greatly reduced. For example, payment by traditional bank draft is replaced by Internet payment through Alipay (China) Network Technology Co., Ltd. Secondly, some financial businesses can be conducted through mobile Internet. For instance, Alibaba Group launched a microfinance program on the Internet. Thirdly, with the aid of mobile Internet, new financial products can be developed, and Yu'ebao in this case study is a kind of financial product based on mobile Internet.

This case is designed for MBA students in M&A or derivatives courses. In January 2011, Sanofi-Aventis was finalizing its offer terms for acquiring Genzyme. The M&A valuation disputes were about the market potential of alemtuzumab, a drug in Genzyme's pipeline, and how quickly Genzyme could resolve some of its manufacturing issues. To bridge the gap in their estimates, advisers had suggested an up-front cash payment and a contingent value right (CVR). Was a CVR the magical solution to bridging the valuation gap?

Spreadsheet supplement for UV6870.

This case is designed to be part of an MBA corporate finance class. In October 2010, Henri Termeer, the chairman and CEO of Genzyme (a top-five biotechnology company), received a letter from the CEO of Sanofi-Aventis (a large French pharmaceutical company) announcing its intention to commence a tender offer for Genzyme. Termeer thought the offer undervalued Genzyme given the number of promising new drugs in the company's pipeline and the success of its current drug portfolio. To estimate Genzyme's fundamental value, Termeer and his finance team would need to conduct a discounted cash flow (DCF) and other valuation analyses. Termeer needed to be well prepared for the board meeting during which the response to the offer would be formulated.

Spreadsheet supplement for UV6874.

Great Offshore Limited (GOL), a leading player in the Indian offshore oilfield services industry, was one of the largest customers of Bharati Shipyard Limited (BSL), the second-largest private-sector shipbuilding company in India. BSL had acquired an approximately 15 per cent stake in GOL (by invoking a share pledge) and made a public offer for a further 20 per cent stake in GOL. BSL’s rival — ABG Shipyard Limited (ABG) — announced a counter-offer. By early August 2009, both BSL and ABG had made further counter-offers and the latest offer price by ABG was 51 per cent higher than the first offer made by BSL. Both players had also invested substantially in building up their equity holdings in GOL. BSL had to decide on how far it should go to make the acquisition.

Spreadsheet supplement for case 215025.

In the midst of the financial crisis, Barclays (the world's 4th largest bank by assets) is forced by UK regulators to raise more capital. Should it take up the UK government's offer to invest, or take funding from investors from the Middle East? Students may price the two deals to determine which is more expensive, and must decide whether avoiding the constraints of government ownership is worth the extra cost.

Dr. John Anderson plans to license a technology that will be used to develop a device that would help physicians detect early-stage cancers. Patients would breathe directly into the device, which would analyze a user's breath for traces of key compounds associated with the most common cancers. In addition to eliminating the need for invasive biopsy procedures, the screening tool would also be inexpensive, easy to use, and provide immediate results. This case describes a hypothetical entrepreneur who must navigate and analyze a year of transactions including establishing a corporation, establishing a licensing agreement, purchasing machinery, and taking out a bank loan, in addition to preparing financial reports for the year.

In early January 2013, a product manager with one of the leading insurance companies in Delhi, India, sat in his home office and pondered the strategy he had followed for his personal investment portfolio over the last three years. He was worried that talk of tapering off the U.S. Federal Reserve’s Quantitative Easing Program, undertaken in the aftermath of the 2008 global financial crisis, and the Indian general elections in May 2014 might affect the value of his investments. In order to achieve higher risk-adjusted returns, he was considering diversifying his all-equity portfolio by adding gold. Before he went ahead, he needed to test the data by using past returns, standard deviations and correlations and then use the Sharpe Ratio to compare the risk-adjusted returns of the diversified portfolio (comprising gold and equity) vis-à-vis an all-equity portfolio.