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Marcelo Alecrim, the owner of SAT, a gas distribution company in Brazil, envisioned many growth opportunities but lacked financial resources to pursue them. He was approaching an American private equity fund to raise money. Describes Alecrim's challenge in creating SAT and the way he leveraged his vision and a sound business model.

In 2001, accounting regulators, especially those in the U.S., began to reconsider the rules of consolidation with a move toward a requirement based on "control," with much less consideration of the size of the equity stake. The fundamental accounting and reporting issue for the Coca-Cola Company was whether the investment in, and operation of, anchor bottlers such as Coca-Cola Enterprises should be reported as a consolidated subsidiary or as an investment and, if the latter, whether that investment should be accounted for using the equity method of accounting, at fair value, or at cost. Includes a detailed history of the Coca-Cola Company.

Reviews the impact of SFAS 142--Goodwill and Other Intangible Assets--in the context of the AOL Time Warner merger. Under SFAS 142, companies were required to perform periodic testing to determine whether economic goodwill had been impaired. Includes a detailed account of the AOL Time Warner merger from its announcement in 2000 through its completion in 2001. Students are asked to assess what the likely impact is of SFAS 142 on the combined AOL Time Warner balance sheet.

Reviews the recognition of goodwill impairment taken by AOL Time Warner following the adoption of SFAS 142--Goodwill and Other Intangible Assets.

The 'Dollar General Going Private' case is intended to improve students' understanding and encourage their use of financial statement analysis. The context is Dollar General Corporation's acquisition by private equity sponsor KKR, which took the company private in 2007. Although the proposed merger generated a 30% premium over the stock price at the time, and the enterprise value to EBITDA multiple was significantly higher than comparable transaction multiples in the retail industry, some shareholders claimed that the price was "grossly inadequate," making the decision whether to approve the transaction a difficult one for shareholders generally.

Supplements the (A) case.

This technical note provides a brief introduction to option trading strategies. It covers pay-off diagrams and specifically introduces bull spreads, butterfly spreads and calendar spreads. It also introduces straddles, strips, and strangles.

Spreadsheet Supplement for case 108010

Looks at various international expansion models for a venture capital firm based in Silicon Valley. Lightspeed Venture Partners believed that India had tremendous potential for venture capital returns--the question was how best to tap into that potential while also growing the firm's presence in the U.S., Israel, and China. The venture firm had recently hired partners in Israel and China, and subsequently opened offices in both countries. The firm was contemplating hiring a third international partner in India and potentially opening a third foreign office. This model seemed to be working in the other two countries, but other U.S. venture firms were entering India in a more aggressive manner. Some venture firms were purchasing local firms and raising money for dedicated India funds. Others were hiring a team of two or three local investors at one time. Lightspeed partners wondered which was the best long-term solution for their firm.

Fu Ji, the largest corporate caterer in China, is thinking about how its financing strategy accommodates the overall corporate strategy. Fu Ji has enjoyed phenomenal growth as the corporate catering market in China develops. But that growth in the business also entails a transition from a single restaurant to a restaurant chain, then to a catering business. Is Fu Ji well equipped for the new business model? What does it need to do on the financing side to accommodate the transition of its business model? The company is listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange and is thinking about issuing additional convertible bonds to finance its growth. What is the funding need? What are the alternative sources of funding that it has? How would the choice of financial instrument affect, and be affected by, the business strategy and how is the instrument choice influenced by the general development of the financial markets in China?

Spreadsheet Supplement for case 208004.

Spreadsheet for case UV0741

In January 2006, Andrew Banks and Royce Yudkoff were considering raising a 5th fund for their media-focused private equity firm, ABRY Partners. ABRY had a strong track record that the co-founders attributed to their group's deep knowledge of the media industry and relationships with media lenders, coupled with a client-service approach to working with Limited Partners. For the fund, Banks and Yudkoff had intended to raise $1 billion and continue their existing strategy, but potential Limited Partners had indicated that they would be willing to commit up to $4 billion. Banks and Yudkoff had to decide whether or not to quadruple the capital in their latest fund.

The "Central Bank" series analyzes the use of information and product design for managing the counterparty risk of newly acquired customers. Central Bank, a mid-sized regional U.S. bank, was attempting to grow its customer base by increasing the number of new checking accounts. Like many banks, Central saw checking accounts as an important tool for customer acquisition and loyalty-building. However, the bank realized that the aggressive pursuit of new accounts could result in an increased number of overdrafts and, ultimately, customer defaults. The first case, "Central Bank: The ChexSystems(SM) QualiFile(R) Decision," analyzes how QualiFile, a debit scoring product commercialized by ChexSystems, can be used to manage this risk.

The purchase of a single-family home is generally the major investment for most young couples in China. Shows in detail the process that a young couple goes through in late April 2007 to find, finance, and close on an apartment in Beijing within what they believe to be their financial capabilities. Takes place in the context of the rapidly developing Chinese real estate market and introduces issues concerning the search and property acquisition that are specific to Beijing. Also deals with the direct and indirect cost involved in home acquisition, and compares these costs to the rental alternative. Also explores the role that the Internet can play in the home-buying process in China.

This case examines the creative strategies that the Lauder family used to monetize their position in Estée Lauder Companies, Inc. in the 1990s while deferring their tax liability on the appreciated position. The strategies include the use of the company's initial public offering to engage in a short-against-the-box transaction and the issuance of hybrid securities known as TRACES. The case allows the students to consider a variety of monetization strategies and the tax and non-tax consequences to those strategies. Students are also exposed to estate tax planning, taxation of derivatives and tax risk issues.

This case challenges students to apply financial reporting concepts pertaining, most notably, to liabilities and expenses in a specific corporate situation. In the context of an interesting, but noncomplex, technical accounting issue, students debate the best way for Adenosine Therapeutics to present its compensation arrangements in its financial statements. In addition, this case also prompts students to debate the best way for a growing company, with cash constraints, to provide incentive and maintain top employees.

Berkshire Partners, a private equity firm in Boston, was pleased with their recent investment in the Holmes Group, a home comfort consumer electronics company. The portfolio company was exceeding key financial targets and Berkshire Partners was confident that it would be another successful investment. Holmes' management team then suggested acquiring a kitchen electronics company, the Rival Company. The management of Holmes believed that Rival would complement their existing portfolio of products and it was the perfect time to buy due to a depressed stock price caused by declining earnings. The investment team at Berkshire now had to decide if the possible returns from an investment in Rival were enough to risk the successful investment in Holmes, or if Rival could be acquired without risking Berkshire's investment in Holmes.

After having negotiated major financial and operating decisions with its parent company, the Chief Financial Officer of this small ready mix concrete subsidiary is then asked to provide a valuation of the subsidiary. A one year forecast of financial statements is provided along with information on long term operating expectations and capital costs. This otherwise straightforward valuation exercise is enhanced by (1) the need to select between the parent or comparable firm costs of capital, (2) sufficient guidance to perform an illuminating sensitivity analysis, and (3) a sufficiently clear and rich context in which to illustrate the linkages between operating and financing choices.

Rob Jones, a Business Development manager intern, has been asked to make a recommendation regarding the purchase of a key piece of intellectual property for use in the Xbox. The project requires collaboration with several functional groups within Xbox and, ultimately, their buy-in. Jones has collected assessments and perspectives (sometimes conflicting) and needs to assimilate them into a recommendation. Jones is surprised to learn that his manager has arranged for his recommendation to be presented to the Division's CFO.