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Provides an overview of capital markets in mainland China in 2007, evaluating the up-to-date performance of key components of the markets, highlighting concerns as China strives to modernize its financial system to meet global competition and support its fast growing economy.

The president of Industrial Accessories Ltd. (IAL) was preparing for a meeting to consider a management buyout of IAL. IAL was a privately owned maker of attachments for construction vehicles based in British Columbia, Canada. IAL was founded in 1970 by Gerald Stone, now chairman and CEO of IAL. Stone had decided to sell IAL because of health problems. Because he had no suitable heirs to take on leadership of the company, the president and three other senior managers were considering a buyout strategy. Students must size up the acquisition, a place value on the company and propose a financing plan for the acquisition.

In August 2006, Magnus Lofgren and Robert Provine, managing directors and co-founders of the "North Real Estate Opportunities Fund," need to decide which real estate investment the Fund should pursue as its first project. The Fund's target region, Central and Eastern Europe, was changing rapidly and returns in some of the more developed regions started to resemble those generated in Western Europe. Yet, the two partners had managed to identify several projects in different countries that promised to generate the Fund's targeted Internal Rates of Return at or above 20% annually. They now had to decide which opportunity was the best match to the Fund's investment profile and showed the highest economic promise.

The leveraged loan market was in a crisis during the summer of 2007, following many years of low realized volatility (less than 4% per annum), an index of leveraged loans had fallen over 5% in the month of July. A sudden drop in capital market prices for an asset class can be caused by news affecting fundamental values; or by a widespread liquidity shock. The implication of a shock to fundamental value is that the price drop is permanent, whereas if the underlying cause of the price drop is caused by a liquidity event, the situation may represent a profitable investment opportunity. Investors must assess the likely cause of the recent price drops in the leveraged loan market and determine an appropriate investment strategy.

The vice-president (VP) and treasurer of TELUS has been asked by the chief financial officer for his opinion on the company's dividend policy and how many recommendations would be conveyed to investors. In developing his response, the VP needs to consider TELUS's future prospects, its leverage policy, the state of the telecommunications industry, and investor expectations. This case facilitates a discussion on dividend policy. Conventional wisdom on dividend policy can be reviewed and then interpreted in the context of the particular circumstances facing TELUS. The case can also facilitate a short discussion on the costs and benefits of share repurchase.

Within the context of a fictitious hedge fund, a new analyst has been asked to use value at risk (VaR) to evaluate two potential additions to its portfolio of funds. The case introduces a number of different methods of calculating VaR using many of the most common parametric and simulation-based techniques.

Spreadsheet Supplement for case 208145

The objective of the statement of cash flow is to facilitate an understanding of the financial consequences of business activities by providing detail pertaining to the sources and uses of a company's cash. While the income statement and balance sheet are based on accrual accounting, the statement of cash flow is intended to represent the cash-flow consequences of business activities. Most of the challenge with preparing, and ultimately understanding, the statement of cash flow is due to a failure to appreciate the relation between the statement of cash flow and other financial statements. The purpose of this note is to discuss the conceptual framework underlying the preparation of the statement of cash flow that is based on that relation.

Spreadsheet Supplement for case 208126

This note describes the hedge fund industry as of the end of the year 2007.

Global financial markets had changed dramatically in the decade following the ING (A) case, product # 9A99M022. This (B) case points to the nature of these changes, creating an opportunity for students to discuss them. Meanwhile, ING had also altered its global strategy, eliminating its attempts to create a global investment bank, and focusing its activities on specific financial sectors, each of which reported directly to head office. This new structure enabled ING head office to maintain closer control over its numerous local institutions. Students can analyze alternative potential strategies for ING in the context of the major financial changes. The (B) case presents summaries of: the 2007-08 global financial crisis; the attempts, like Basel II, to establish global reserve requirements; the economic prospects of the European Union and emerging markets; and ING Direct's success in e-banking.

Shortly after the acquisition of Corus in 2007, Tata Steel Limited entered the international markets with a convertible bond offering (CARS) that had distinct features. The offering of US$875 million was the first of its kind from India. The successful issuance reflected investor confidence in the country and the company. This case covers a full analysis of the CARS with a scope that spans valuation, structuring of the financing instrument to suit the issuer's strategic imperatives and investment analysis.

Spreadsheet supplement for case 908N01.

By March 2008, the U.S. Government and the U.S. Federal Reserve Board had taken various policy measures over the last few months to tackle the subprime mortgage crisis that threatened to drag the economy into a recession. The Bush administration approved a fiscal stimulus package exceeding $150 billion. Interest rates had been repeatedly cut at the fastest pace in decades, to 2.25% as of March 2008. The Fed, in an unprecedented move, helped JPMorgan Chase to take over Bear Stearns, which was on the brink of collapse. Yet as the global economy faced slower growth stemming from the U.S. mortgage crisis, policy makers were caught in an intense debate over what the 'right' solution would be, and the implication of these policies on global imbalances.

Spreadsheet Supplement for case 708036

Leading index company Dow Jones recently signed a license and joint marketing agreement with Transparent Value LLC, the creator of a new fundamentals-based valuation methodology. The agreement allowed Dow Jones to offer a family of indexes based on the Transparent Value methodology. The methodology viewed stock prices as the clearest and most reliable signals of the market's expectations about a company's future performance, and employed a Reverse Discounted Cash Flow (RDCF) valuation model to calculate the revenue required to support a given stock price for a given company. Then, the methodology applied a probability that the company would achieve the needed revenues in the next 12 months, based on its recent track record. Moreover, the methodology endeavored for specificity. For example, when possible, Transparent Value strove to determine what the company needed to do in its business activities to achieve the required revenues. Called "business performance requirements," these could include the number of new store openings, or the number of product unit sales needed, as two examples. The fictitious case protagonist, a business development manager at a leading money management firm, is looking to launch an exchange-traded fund (ETF) using a fundamentals-based index as the underlying index. She needs to decide whether to base her ETF products on the Dow Jones - Transparent Value indexes. The case study provides an overview of equity indexes and ETF's and a step-by-step description of Transparent Value's methodology.

This case reviews the development and financing of the Dabhol power plant in India's Maharashtra state. This project was controversial from inception for three main reasons: the promoter (the now defunct Enron Corporation) sought to minimise its capital commitment in the project; the project economics relied on high final output pricing relative to prevailing (subsidised) price levels; and both project and financing transactions failed to protect adequately against political disruption. For practical purposes it may be considered an example of a failed project finance venture. This case explores in particular how risks associated with developing such ventures in a politically volatile environment may be mishandled by promoters and financiers. In principle it aims to illustrate the difference between managing operational risks and managing and mitigating project risks in an uncertain institutional setting.

This note demonstrates how a forward price, or equivalently, futures price, is determined and considers forward and futures contracts written on financial assets and on commodities. The note introduces the concept of a convenience yield and calculates the convenience yields on four commodities, crude oil, natural gas, copper and gold. Examples in the note use actual market prices.

The chief financial officer of an environmentally-focused company that makes all-natural plant fertilizer is considering the introduction of two new plant fertilizing products. The company is committed to being the ultimate eco-capitalist corporation and utilizes an environmentally friendly production process and packing from waste containers, such as recycled pop bottles. Students are expected to complete the following tasks for this case: 1) marketing analysis, 2) corporate size-up, 3) consumer analysis, 4) competitor analysis, 5) a statement of cash flows and interpretation, 6) ratios calculations and analysis, 7) differential analysis for each alternative and 8) income statement and balance sheet projections and interpretation.

A Chinese investment banker is performing due diligence on the potential acquisition of a Canadian manufacturer of health care products. Among her tasks is the need to put a value on the acquisition target. Her client is an independently wealthy investor and chair of Great Wall Holdings (Great Wall). Great Wall was a privately held conglomerate with interests in a wide range of companies. The investment banker is interested in diversifying his holdings outside of China and was especially interested in gaining a modest foothold in the manufacture of health care products in North America.