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Supplement to 209119

Supplement to 209119 and 209131

How can distressed investors take advantage of the procedures governing an international bankruptcy? Wilbur L. Ross, chairman and CEO of the private equity firm WL Ross & Co., LLC, has the opportunity to bid for debt and equity claims on Plascar Industria e Comercio Ltda., the Brazilian subsidiary of the bankrupt global auto components company Collins & Aikman Corp. In evaluating this opportunity, students must analyze Ross's strategy to reshape a global industry with significant overcapacity, consider the opportunities created by the legal procedures that govern cross-border insolvencies, study a debt overhang problem, and consider how restructuring alternatives can address this problem.

This case is designed as an introductory exercise to familiarize students with several methods used to value early-stage companies. The value of a young biotech company is compared under the venture capital (VC), discounted cash flow (DCF), and real option methods of valuation. Students are asked to value the firm under the VC and DCF methods and then compare those values to the value obtained under the real option method. It is suggested that the student spreadsheet (UV4357) be assigned in advance of the class with instructions to have students value the firm under the VC and DCF methods. A separate worksheet in the file (which can be hidden at the instructor's discretion) provides the option valuation for later discussion purposes. A technical note, "Valuing the Early-Stage Company" (UV1363), covering the basics of the VC and DCF methods of valuation can be assigned with the case.

This case is designed as an introductory exercise to familiarize students with several methods used to value early-stage companies. The value of a young biotech company is compared under the venture capital (VC), discounted cash flow (DCF), and real option methods of valuation. Students are asked to value the firm under the VC and DCF methods and then compare those values to the value obtained under the real option method. It is suggested that the student spreadsheet (UV4357) be assigned in advance of the class with instructions to have students value the firm under the VC and DCF methods. A separate worksheet in the file (which can be hidden at the instructor's discretion) provides the option valuation for later discussion purposes. A technical note, "Valuing the Early-Stage Company" (UV1363), covering the basics of the VC and DCF methods of valuation can be assigned with the case.

Spreadsheet Supplement for UV1094.

In the summer of 2006 the chairman and CEO of Eurotunnel Group is faced with the decision whether to file for bankruptcy protection, after having failed to gain creditor approval of an ambitious out-of-court restructuring plan. The company, which has been attempting to restructure its debt and operations for the last ten years, faces a number of daunting challenges. Eurotunnel is jointly listed in the U.K. and France, and its shareholders, who are largely based in France, face the prospect of significant dilution under any restructuring plan. The current chairman and CEO has been with the company for only a year-and-a half, following a decade of senior management turbulence in which the company has seen nine different CEOs and chairmen. Eurotunnel's capital structure is staggeringly complex, and a large fraction of its debt has come to be held by U.S.-based hedge funds that specialize in investing in distressed companies. Finally, Eurotunnel's business is extremely challenging to value, and is faced with significant competition. If the current chairman/CEO decides to file for bankruptcy, he faces the additional choice whether to file for bankruptcy in the U.K. or in France, which take quite different approaches to restructuring troubled companies.

In mid-2007 the chairman and CEO of Eurotunnel Group, having elected to file for bankruptcy under a newly-enacted French insolvency law, awaits the outcome of a vote by creditors and shareholders. At least 50% of the shareholders must approve the plan, however they face significant dilution of their ownership interests in Eurotunnel. If the vote fails to pass, the possibility that the company may have to be liquidated becomes increasingly likely.

Spreadsheet Supplement for 209091.

Washington Mutual issues 6 billion Euro of covered bonds in 2006. The objective of the case is to ask whether these bonds are mispriced in late 2008. The case is set in September 20008, and Washington Mutual is facing considerable distress due to mounting losses on its mortgage portfolio. Following investment bank Lehman Brother's Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection filing in mid September, the price of Washington Mutual's covered bonds has fallen to 75 per 100 of face value. As these bonds are over-collateralized, the case asks students to evaluate the underlying collateral portfolio in the event of liquidation, as well as assessing the likelihood of different outcomes. The case takes place during a period of considerable uncertainty in the global capital markets.

This note reviews a variety of shorter-term consumer credit products in the U.S. with an emphasis on the types of products that low and moderate-income consumers use. Included here are the following: credit cards, bank overdraft products, payday lending, personal loans and peer-to-peer lending, home-equity lending, rent-to-own contracts, auto-title lending, pawnbroking, refund-anticipation loans, informal lending.

Most large companies operate in more than one business. Valuing a diversified company requires separate valuations for each of its businesses and for the corporate headquarters. This method of valuing a company by parts and then adding them up is known as Sum-Of-The-Parts (SOTP) valuation and is commonly used in practice by stock market analysts and companies themselves. However, it is rarely taught in MBA programs or broached in valuation textbooks. Yet the application of the method raises a number of challenges.

Founders and their families can raise equity without relinquishing control of their companies, through the use of mechanisms such as dual-class stock, pyramidal ownership, voting agreements, and disproportionate board representation. The use of these mechanisms in publicly traded companies is widespread throughout the world, and in the United States. Understanding how the various mechanisms contribute to the separation between economic ownership and control is important for the individuals who set them up because the choice among these mechanisms impacts firm value. It is also important for minority shareholders in these companies and for regulators, for reasons of transparency and investor protection.

The manager of an upscale hotel in the heart of London, Ontario - The Clonlara - wanted to apply revenue management techniques to increase revenue at the hotel. Specifically, she wanted to apply quantitative analysis to determine how many rooms to discount for a Saturday night stay.

Most companies around the world are family-controlled and/or closely held. The need to value these companies routinely arises in practice for a variety of reasons, e.g ., to buy out minority shareholders; for gift and estate tax purposes; to tie executive compensation to firm performance; to raise outside capital; or to sell the company outright. However, these companies present certain unique characteristics that can make standard valuation methods inappropriate for them.

Spreadsheet Supplement for 208062.

The president and chief operating officer of Cadim, the real estate arm of the Caisse de Dépôt et Placement du Québec, Canada's largest pension fund management firm, was considering whether Cadim should enter India, China or both on a long-term basis to diversify its global real estate holdings and take advantage of the growth these two countries were experiencing. The fund's investment would potentially amount to hundreds of millions of dollars and could lead to substantial returns; however, these investments carried considerable risks. The case introduces many of the issues involved with managing an international portfolio of real estate and provides a detailed overview of the business environment and culture of both China and India. In doing so, the case exposes students to the complicated nature of regional risk assessment and the challenges of doing business in developing countries. Students must assess whether the complexity and risk levels involved with entering a new developing country are worth the potential returns.

The president and chief operating officer of Cadim, the real estate arm of the Caisse de Dépôt et Placement du Québec, Canada's largest pension fund management firm, had recently been approached with several interesting multimillion-dollar investment opportunities in India and China. Although Cadim was still deciding whether to invest in either country (see Cadim: The China and India Real Estate Market Entry Decisions case), if the company chose to do so, it wanted suitable partners and deals lined up. Each deal had its pros and cons, but the president knew all too well that the wrong combination of partner and deal could have dire consequences for Cadim's profits and the team's reputation. The case analysis involves risk assessment, partner assessment, cash flow analysis and portfolio fit analysis.

Bear Stearns & Co burned through nearly all of its $18 billion in cash reserves during the week of March 10, 2008, and an unprecedented provision of liquidity support from the Federal Reserve on Friday March 13 was insufficient to reverse the decline in Bear's condition. Federal Reserve Chairman Benjamin Bernanke, Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson and New York Fed President Timothy Geithner were intent on limiting the impact of Bear's problems on the wider financial system. James "Jamie" Dimon, Morgan's Chairman and CEO, was in frequent contact with these regulators over the weekend of March 14-16, negotiating possible scenarios for the rescue of Bear, without which would force it to seek bankruptcy protection when markets opened on Monday. Late on Sunday afternoon, March 16, Bear's board accepted Morgan's offer to purchase Bear for $2 per share, an offer that would not have been made without significant government assistance. There was hope that the Bear rescue would help avert the far-reaching spread of damage into the larger financial world that many policymakers viewed as likely to follow the failure of a major investment bank. This case examines a seminal event in the financial and economic crisis that began in the summer of 2007, and provides background for better understanding the full scope of the crisis as it was revealed during the summer and fall of 2008. It was written to address two sets of issues. First, it provides the opportunity to understand the corporate finance issues of capital and liquidity, and of firm valuation. Second, the case allows for the exploration of aspects of a firm's internal and external governance, as well as the challenges of navigating through a crisis when faced with compelling pressures from competing stakeholders.