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The case involves repositioning an old 6-story warehouse in Pittsburgh and many of the issues of rehabilitation and selecting and managing the development team especially in a world of capital market uncertainty. The case also demonstrates the alignment of interests of the players, the construction process and the various methods available to contract with the general contractor including lump sum, cost-plus and guaranteed maximum price.

Spreadsheet supplement for case UV0251.

In May 2007, aluminum giant Alcoa announced its intentions to perform a hostile takeover of Alcan. Case B is set at this point and before Rio Tinto was in a position to announce its own offer. Students are asked to perform valuations of Alcan to determine the premium offered by Alcoa, consider the strategies Alcan can employ, and supply the suggestions Alcan managers should provide shareholders.

An analyst at an investment firm is considering an investment in Carmanah Technologies Corporation (Carmanah). Carmanah is a fast-growing player in the high-powered alternative energy products. Since 2007, when the new chief executive officer (CEO) took over, a turnaround effort has been in place at Carmanah. At $0.91 per share, Carmanah's shares were trading at just 23 per cent of their value in mid-2007. The analyst is scheduled to make a recommendation on Carmanah to his managing director in two days. He needs to get to work valuing the company on the basis of the information he has gathered.

Lonestar Graphite is a potential purchase for a middle-market private equity firm. The private equity firm must decide what to offer for an equity position in Lonestar, based on both the underlying operations of the firm and the availability of other sources of funds (largely debt) to finance a transaction. Opportunities for analysis include application of a number of valuation techniques including variations of discounted cash flow models and multiples.

Lonestar Graphite is a potential purchase for a middle-market private equity firm. The private equity firm must decide what to offer for an equity position in Lonestar, based on both the underlying operations of the firm and the availability of other sources of funds (largely debt) to finance a transaction. Opportunities for analysis include application of a number of valuation techniques including variations of discounted cash flow models and multiples.

Spreadsheet Supplement for case 210014

The Blackstone Group had conducted a roll-up of theme parks and attractions business in Europe. It was considering how to generate liquidity for its investors. Blackstone entered the theme parks and attractions business in Europe by acquiring a majority stake in U.K.-based Merlin Entertainment in 2005. In 2005 and 2006, Merlin Entertainment acquired two other similar businesses, LEGOLAND based in Denmark and Gardaland based in Italy. At the end of 2006, Blackstone's team was weighing its options for generating liquidity for its investors. The options were to conduct a dividend recapitalization of Merlin Entertainment or to acquire The Tussauds Group. The acquisition, if successful, would result in the second largest theme parks and attractions business in the world after Disney. The Tussauds Group was owned by another private equity firm, Dubai International Capital (DIC). Blackstone's goal was to make a minimum of 3x on its initial Merlin investment through the dividend recapitalization and at least 5x through the Tussauds acquisition. A third option arose while Blackstone was in negotiation with DIC. This was the opportunity to perform a sale-leaseback of the underlying real estate assets owned by Merlin and Tussauds. Based on the facts and financials provided, it is clear there were tradeoffs between the size of the potential returns for each option, timing, and the risks that have to be managed. What should the Blackstone team do?

This case explains marketing process for follow-on equity offerings, the direct and indirect costs of issue, and the long-run performance of equity issuers. Students use analysts' projections from which to estimate the intrinsic value of the company's share-including the cost savings from the VEBA and financial improvements over the next several years. It is appropriate for use in corporate finance courses covering the topics of capital raising, equity financing, capital structure, costs of financing, funding alternatives, investment banking, and valuation. It presents the classic profile on an equity issuer-a firm whose stock price has risen to new heights in recent months. Will the issue lead to additional value that creates opportunities for shareholders, or is it a sign the firm is overvalued? The case explores the thinking of a prominent investment manager who had accumulated a large stake in Goodyear and who did not see the need for Goodyear to make an equity issue at this time. The company's position was that the high stock would allow it to further strengthen its balance sheet and pursue international growth opportunities. Students are asked to decide what the investor should do with respect to the current offer-buy, sell, or hold.

Kinecta Federal Credit Union has the opportunity to purchase Nix Check Cashing as part of their "blue ocean" strategy to reach the financially underserved and increase credit union membership and deposits. But they face financial as well as reputational risk. Check cashing, payday lending and other alternative financial services are maligned in mainstream financial circles. This case asks students to evaluate both organizations, their respective industries, and the proposed $45 million deal and determine whether or not it makes sense for Kinecta to purchase Nix.

In 2005 Jane Bauer-Martin, a hedge fund manager, is considering what she should do with the fund's large investment in the publicly traded bonds of Delphi Corp., a financially troubled auto parts supplier. Delphi is General Motor's key auto parts supplier, and, like GM, it is burdened with large pension and other retiree liabilities that threaten to push it into bankruptcy. Bauer-Martin is considering using various credit derivatives (credit default swaps, credit-linked notes, credit default swap indices, total return swaps, etc.) to hedge her position in Delphi debt, or to speculate on future Delphi bond prices.

This case invites students to evaluate, based on given materials, the causes, consequences, and potential resolutions of the financial crisis of 2007-2009. The premise of a business professor preparing a slide presentation dramatizes an analysis of the financial crisis. Reviewing his data, much of it in graph form, the professor ponders the central role of banks and the impact of risk management, leverage, and incentives. His main thesis is that the fundamental issue surrounding this crisis was the misjudgment of the risks taken, with the result that risk management failed to do its job of curtailing and managing risk as expected.

Spreadsheet Supplement for case 210002.

Citigroup faced considerable distress in early 2009. In late 2008, the bank had accepted $45 billion in preferred equity from the United States government via the Troubled Assets Relief Program (TARP). Yet, the stock had continued to slide in early 2009. In late February, the company announced that it would convert as much as $50 billion of preferred stock into common stock, at $3.25 per share. The case asks students to evaluate the pricing of preferred stock relative to common stock at this time. As the case takes place during a period of considerable uncertainty in global capital markets, and conventional sources of arbitrage capital have been depleted, the apparent mispricing may not be as attractive as it initially seems. In the B and C cases, students must decide whether their view of the appropriate pricing changes, when the apparent mispricing worsens. A final additional teaching point relates to the formation of a synthetic short position using the options markets.

This note addresses the question of valuation in the venture capital setting. It discusses the methodologies most commonly in practice for arriving at valuation. Because valuation methodologies can yield widely varying results, this note looks at valuation from many different angles. The note addresses critical questions including: What value should the entrepreneur put on his/her company when first raising capital? What should the venture capitalist (VC) pay to invest in the company? What is the appropriate valuation for subsequent rounds of financing? What is the right value at which to exit the investment?

This note covers the basics of real estate from a portfolio manager's perspective. It examines how money is made in real estate, how real estate is valued, the differences among various types of real estate, and how to do basic financial modelling such as net present value (NPV) and internal rate of return (IRR).

These spreadsheets will allow students to analyze financials for Kinecta Federal Credit Union and Nix Check Cashing. They also provide insight into the banking and AFS markets in which both organizations operate.

Real estate is an increasingly important component in the portfolios of institutional investors. This note discusses the issues these investors must consider when investing in real estate from the legal forms of ownership, to separate or commingled funds, to property type and geography, to broad or focused managers, to leverage, to the timing of investment, and finally, to the compensation paid to both external managers and internal staff.

B/E Aerospace, Inc., (BEAV) the market leader for cabin interior products for commercial aircraft and business jets, and a leading aftermath distributor of aerospace fasteners, was reviewing its financial strategy. BEAV was a heavily leveraged company in the cyclical aircraft products industry. Its business had been threatened by the terrorist act of September 11, 2001, the epidemic of SARS in 2003 and the war in Iraq in 2004. These events discouraged Americans from flying, bankrupting airlines and reducing their investments in aircraft. The company sold 18.4 million shares of common stock, raising $156 million to pay down some of its high-cost debt, reduce interest expense and achieve a more balanced capital structure. Still, after restructuring, debt on a pro-forma basis would constitute 79 per cent of its long-term capital. The chief financial officer was considering a more appropriate debt target and how the company might achieve it. Further, he was contemplating a $50 million reduction in debt from available cash. Students are to recommend a target capital structure and steps to achieve it. Data are available to apply theoretical and practical approaches to making recommendations in advanced undergraduate and graduate courses.

This case highlights the issues around money market mutual funds in the financial crisis of 2008.