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Barry Sloane, second-generation Chairman, President, and CEO of his family's bank, Century Bank, weighed whether to sell to Eastern Bank. As a small regional bank, Century faced a number of challenging trends, such as digitization and market share decline in the coming years, despite its past decade of top performance, balanced growth, and careful risk management. Whereas his father consistently refused to sell during his lifetime, Sloane worried this might be the last cash offer on the table for the bank. On the other hand, selling was an irreversible decision that would severe the family's legacy and the next generation from the bank. Was it finally time for the Sloane family to part with Century Bank?

Joe and Matt Deitch, father and son, knew it was time to start their own family office. Matthew had recently joined his father at the family's three enterprises, and they both realized that their family's needs had grown increasingly complex over the years. In search of someone to oversee their new initiatives, the two began interviewing prospective CEOs to head their new family office. Having defined the family's needs and wants for their family office, how could they find someone that resonated with their values and priorities? How could the family establish the governance and legacy institutions necessary to fulfill their goals and wishes? Knowing that their decisions would set a precedent for all generations to come, how could the family translate their strategic vision into an optimal family office structure, and how could they identify the best partner to guide them through the process?

On her first day as the new CEO of Citigroup Inc. (Citi), Jane Fraser announced Citi's commitment to net-zero greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) by 2050. The case examines the implications of such a decision, including the need to work both on Citi's own operations as well as help transition those of its clients. The case allows for an examination of the green bond market, and separately, the market of social bonds and sustainability-linked bonds. The case discusses the various principles and frameworks for green and social bonds and their potential benefits and risks.

Zak Pym Williams, mental health advocate, grappled with the question of how to create a proactive mental health family environment for his children. Having witnessed how mental health challenges such as addiction and depression had impacted the past four generations of his family, Williams sought to break the cycle for his children and future generations ahead. He himself was among the approximately 20% of American adults who had experienced a mental health condition annually, as he himself had been diagnosed with generalized anxiety disorder, depression, and PTSD as a young adult. Although his children were still quite young, he considered how he could enact an optimal family mental health strategy to break the family's intergenerational cycle once and for all.

Shinya Deguchi, Founder and Managing Partner of Star Magnolia Capital, a Shanghai-based multi-family office (MFO), considered how to convince a new prospective family that the MFO's endowment model approach would best suit their needs. In recent decades, there has been a rapid growth of Chinese high net worth individuals, and mainland China faced a shortage of services available to their families. Deguchi believed that Star Magnolia would not only help the MFO's families build wealth over generations through the endowment approach but also possessed the capability to recruit the top and most diligent investment managers in the field. How could he introduce and convince the family of his conviction? In what cases did Star Magnolia offer a competitive advantage as a MFO over individual SFOs? Furthermore, as the MFO continued to grow, how could all member families ensure that their interests remained aligned into the future? At the end of the day, what 'pitch' could Deguchi offer to win the family over?

This case series was developed around QuMei's takeover bid for Ekornes ASA, a company headquartered in Norway. QuMei, the Chinese furnishings manufacturer established in 1993 and listed on Shanghai Stock Exchange in 2015, was the promoter of the takeover bid. In the same year, it introduced its "New QuMei" strategy, pivoting from a pure furnishings supplier to a content and service supplier in the furnishings industry. The target company, Ekornes, was a prime Norwegian furnishings manufacturer with four affiliate brands, including "Stressless", known as the "most comfortable chair in the world". It also had vast market bases in Europe and America. Case A mainly discusses the reasons behind QuMei's takeover of Ekornes. First, it explores why QuMei opted for acquisition rather than organic growth. Second, having decided to take the acquisition route, how did it choose Ekornes as its target. Finally, the case examines the feasibility of the takeover and potential ensuing risks. Based on case discussions, students are given the chance to analyze the logic behind takeovers, how target companies are selected, how takeovers take different forms depending on purpose, and how to analyze and avoid potential risks that may be involved. Case (B) focuses on the transaction arrangements in QuMei's takeover of Ekornes: was Ekornes suitably valued? How would QuMei reach a consensus with the target company's shareholders regarding the reasonable consideration for takeover? Then, after valuation, how should the transaction be funded and structured? By the end of 2017, QuMei's assets were at ¥2.1 billion, while its overseas sales were a mere ¥4.87 million. In contrast, Ekornes's assets were valued at over ¥4 billion. This case therefore can be reference for practical problem-solving in acquisition of snake swallowing elephant.

This case series was developed around QuMei's takeover bid for Ekornes ASA, a company headquartered in Norway. QuMei, the Chinese furnishings manufacturer established in 1993 and listed on Shanghai Stock Exchange in 2015, was the promoter of the takeover bid. In the same year, it introduced its "New QuMei" strategy, pivoting from a pure furnishings supplier to a content and service supplier in the furnishings industry. The target company, Ekornes, was a prime Norwegian furnishings manufacturer with four affiliate brands, including "Stressless", known as the "most comfortable chair in the world". It also had vast market bases in Europe and America. Case A mainly discusses the reasons behind QuMei's takeover of Ekornes. First, it explores why QuMei opted for acquisition rather than organic growth. Second, having decided to take the acquisition route, how did it choose Ekornes as its target. Finally, the case examines the feasibility of the takeover and potential ensuing risks. Based on case discussions, students are given the chance to analyze the logic behind takeovers, how target companies are selected, how takeovers take different forms depending on purpose, and how to analyze and avoid potential risks that may be involved. Case (B) focuses on the transaction arrangements in QuMei's takeover of Ekornes: was Ekornes suitably valued? How would QuMei reach a consensus with the target company's shareholders regarding the reasonable consideration for takeover? Then, after valuation, how should the transaction be funded and structured? By the end of 2017, QuMei's assets were at ¥2.1 billion, while its overseas sales were a mere ¥4.87 million. In contrast, Ekornes's assets were valued at over ¥4 billion. This case therefore can be reference for practical problem-solving in acquisition of snake swallowing elephant.

Masdar City broke ground in 2008 and was conceived by the Abu Dhabi government to be an international beacon of innovation in sustainable energy and real estate. It was also to be a profitable investment for the government. At first glance, the two goals pulled in opposite directions as conventional wisdom at the time claimed that building sustainably inevitably came at a premium. Over time, with each new project, Masdar learned more on how to balance building sustainably with being profitable. Masdar had financed all of its developments through equity but in 2020 was considering using debt for the first time through a "Green REIT" that was to be made up of a selection of Masdar's own properties. The question was how would this affect Masdar's ability to innovate, complete building the city, and continue to balance sustainability and cost. The case chronicles Masdar's learning journey with each of its major developments from inception to 2020 and provides students an opportunity to understand the thought processes, inner workings, and design approaches that Masdar followed in the pursuit of balancing cost and sustainability. It also allows students to consider different approaches to financing a real estate development and the implications those approaches can have.

The Edmonton Opera Association (Edmonton Opera) was founded in 1963 as a not-for-profit arts organization with the aim of providing audiences with compelling productions that combined music, song, and theatre. Over the years, Edmonton Opera had been successful in providing its services, but, in 2020, it was challenged. Just when it had almost recovered from a deficit, reported in 2012, the global COVID-19 pandemic occurred, and an economic slowdown followed. The board of directors knew that many organizations, in addition to Edmonton Opera, had had to suspend their operations temporarily due to COVID-19 restrictions, and they wanted to know how the pandemic had affected Edmonton Opera’s operations. A newly minted board member with a background in finance and accounting was assigned the task of conducting a financial statement analysis. Because not all members of the board had the necessary skills to provide oversight of the association’s accounting matters, this new board member was also asked to address Edmonton Opera’s specific accounting issues.

A new entrepreneur planning to start a new exports and/or imports business is confronted with the issue of managing and mitigating various risks in international trade. Risks are inherent to any business, be it domestic or international. However, when business becomes international, the dimensions, complexities, and quantum of risks get amplified. This technical note discusses the nuances of various risks faced by the exporters, such as; credit risk, country risk, and currency risk faced by the exporters, popularly known as the three C's of international trading risks, and the strategies of mitigating those risks. The note also discusses the various risks encountered by the importers, such as; currency risk, supplier risk, and product risk and the methods of managing such risks.

The case follows the debt restructuring of WorldStrides International, a travel program provider in the education market, after the onset of COVID-19. The pandemic severely impacted the travel industry, creating challenges for many companies like WorldStrides, which were highly-levered and whose debt was held by a wide range of institutional investors, including collateralized loan obligations (CLOs). By May 2020, WorldStrides needed to restructure its debt, and there are two proposals that are being circulated, one from the company's private equity sponsor and the other from a hedge fund holding some senior secured debt. This case takes the perspective of York Capital Management, a CLO manager that also holds WorldStrides's senior secured debt. Both existing proposals had aspects that would have put stress on the structure of York's CLOs at the time. This case takes a deep dive into the economics of CLOs and their internal compliance processes. With this information York's CLO team needs to suggest to their lending group whether to accept either proposal, look for other options, or sell the loans at a loss and redeploy the capital. This case can be used as a background for teaching corporate debt securitization, corporate debt restructuring, and the role of creditors that face different institutional constraints.

The case describes how Lemonade, a leading Insurtech startup, expanded its business with a unique AI-powered digital insurance model and a "giveback" charity scheme after its spectacular IPO in 2020. The focus is how its scale-up efforts encountered challenges both externally and internally when it expanded its product portfolio and geographic scope. Lemonade is an exemplary case of hyper-growth startups who aspire to disrupt a legacy industry with digital technologies and novel business models. Yet, how these startups become scalable and sustainable is less understood by both scholars and practitioners. For example, Journal of Business Venturing (JBV), a leading academic journal on entrepreneurship, announced a call for special issue in 2022 with a theme on "Scale-ups, Scaling, and Scalability: Entrepreneurial Scaling in the Digital Age". This case fills in this gap by examining how Lemonade scaled up during its growth stage, how its scale-up efforts met internal and external resistance, and how to draw valuable lessons.

Fernando Scodro, a third-generation member of his family, mulled over the next step in integrating an ESG strategy into his family office's investment portfolio. While his family office, Grupo Baobá, had made excellent progress in incorporating his family's values into their individually owned assets, such as VC and real estate, he weighed how to expand their ESG strategy in future investments. How should the family evaluate the relative benefits of an asset's return on investment versus return on impact? What would a forward-looking ESG strategy look like for his family - and other families who were their co-investment partners? How could Fernando convince external partners of his strategy's imperative and cultivate like-minded managers and financial products to achieve his goals? Finally, when should the family instead prioritize achieving impact through philanthropic initiatives? However he chose, he knew that the paths he advocated for within his family would impact all future generations of the Grupo Baobá Family Office.

The case highlights the significance of Non-Banking Financial Companies (NBFCs) in credit provisioning for companies and related problems. It revolves around Dr. Emandi Sankara Rao, who takes over as the CEO of Industrial Finance Corporation of India (IFCI), an NBFC at a time when IFCI has had a sudden and sharp downturn in its performance due to high levels of non-performing assets (NPA). While mulling over various strategic choices for debt resolution, Dr. Rao decides to use the Insolvency & Bankruptcy Code (IBC), a new legislation enacted by the government to address the issues of insolvency resolution in the corporate sector. Since the IBC provides for a creditor-led process of insolvency resolution and in a time-bound manner, Dr. Rao chooses to apply this to a powerful corporate group to which IFCI has a total exposure of INR12.97bn, with INR5.88bn under stress. The case details the challenges that Dr. Rao faces in this journey to resolve the issue of corporate insolvency.

The state of Uttar Pradesh was India's leading producer state of mentha. The state's small and medium-sized enterprises and trade entities were involved in the processing, distillation, crystal manufacture, and export of mentha. After 2017, there had been a deep decline in mentha oil futures trading, which wiped out liquidity and led to several market participants withdrawing from the Multi Commodity Exchange of India Limited (MCX). The MCX had long been a market leader in commodities, supporting futures trading in precious metals and bullion, energy, and a few agricultural commodities-notably, mentha oil. The senior vice-president and head of business development and marketing at the MCX was exploring ways to promote liquidity and raise the volume and turnover of mentha oil futures trading. Having contributed to a brainstorming session with the product development team based on the findings of a 2020-21 stakeholder study of the mentha market, he now had to integrate his domain knowledge and trading expertise with the insights gleaned from the stakeholder's report to devise a strategy for resurrecting the slumping mentha oil futures.

Spreadsheet supplement for case W27116.

In early March 2020, CoinOrb needed additional capital to build the minimum viable product for their cryptocurrency futures trading platform. Rather than raise additional equity, the company founders created an initial coin offering (ICO), a token sale that blockchain start-ups use to raise funds. CoinOrb planned to launch their ICO shortly after launching their platform in late 2020, but they first needed to prepare their white paper. How would the CoinOrb founders market their offering to investors? What terms would the ICO have? And what value would they assign to the tokens?

Spreadsheet to accompany product W29723.