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In late 2019, LVMH Moët Hennessy - Louis Vuitton SE (LVMH) , a luxury goods empire, made an aggressive bid to acquire Tiffany & Co. (Tiffany), in an attempt to expand LVMH's product portfolio and customer base. This move was consistent with the specialty of LVMH's chief executive officer-making hostile acquisition offers. The chief executive officer of Tiffany needed to consider whether the acquisition was in the best interest of Tiffany's existing shareholders and whether the terms of the current offer maximized the value of Tiffany.

Spreadsheet Supplement for Case W24482

Essar Steel India Limited was one of the first 12 firms admitted for insolvency resolution under a newly created law in India-the lnsolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2016. The case describes the challenges faced by the professional turnaround firm Alvarez and Marsal India (A&M) that was appointed by the committee of creditors to preserve and enhance value before Essar Steel could be sold to a new investor at a price that would minimise the "hair cut" for the creditors. Mr Nikhil Shah, a managing director at A&M, reflected on his team's experience with simultaneously turning around Essar Steel and managing the processes laid out by the code as per the law. The case provides insights into how insolvencies were dealt with in India under the new code and how a professional firm managed a financially distressed firm and turned it around.

In June 2020, Jeremy Blank prepared for a meeting with his fellow partners at York Capital to discuss an investment he had championed in Enovix, a company developing a state-of-the-art, silicon-based battery. Early-stage technology companies, like Enovix, were not typical investments for York, but Blank had convinced his partners to invest. However, the partnership wanted to be "one and done" without reinvesting in future rounds. By 2020, Enovix had made great progress but not as quickly as forecasted. The company had set out to raise more money and received a term sheet from a well-known publicly-traded company. Blank saw this as an exciting opportunity for Enovix, but he was disappointed to see that it would require York to invest more capital and forego a key protective feature. How should Blank approach this meeting with his partners, and what should he recommend?

On April 14, 2022, Elon Musk offered to buy Twitter Inc. for US$54.20 per share, for a total cost of US$44 billion. Musk hoped to make the social media network a platform of free speech, and the company profitable and cash flow-positive far more quickly than its management team at the time. Musk’s leveraged buyout was mainly funded by a margin loan backed by his own shares in his company, Tesla Inc. On July 8, 2022, Musk announced that he was backing out of the deal. Almost immediately, a lawsuit was filed to force Musk to close the deal as required by the merger agreement. In response, Musk had to decide whether his bid of US$54.20 per share was still a fair valuation for the purchase, if a leveraged buyout with a margin loan was the best financing plan, and whether to confirm or abandon his agreement to buy Twitter Inc. If he chose to walk away from the deal, he would have to consider the potential loss, depending on the outcome of the pending lawsuit in the Delaware Court of Chancery.

Student spreadsheet for product W30166.

Instructor spreadsheet supporting product W30167.

A recent master of business administration degree graduate, had discovered a problem with inventory management in her family’s business. Agrawal Kitchenware Distributors (Agrawal), a wholesaler and distributor of kitchenware items, appeared to be well-off according to its financials, but when she had toured the company’s warehouse, she discovered several problems with the inventory, and there was no management system that could identify, track, or resolve the inventory problems. Because Agrawal was a family business, the changes needed to be acceptable to both brothers who owned and managed the business, and the changes needed to be fairly simple to implement and maintain. What inventory management technique would be suitable in these circumstances?

Spreadsheet to accompany product W26015.

Spreadsheet for product W24753.

Spreadsheet supplement for case 222018.

Spreadsheet to 222005.

The case explores whether alternative investments play a unique role in achieving low carbon dioxide emissions at the portfolio level. This case is set in April of 2020 and follows Kasper Ahrndt Lorenzen, Chief Investment Officer, and Peter Tind Larsen, Head of Alternative Investments, at PFA, the largest commercial pension fund in Denmark. PFA had recently seen increased demand from its corporate clients to offer a product with lower carbon dioxide emissions. The case explores PFA's decision to offer a "Climate Plus" product that would aim to produce strong returns and meet ambitious climate-related goals. In the case, the protagonists meet to discuss the role of alternative assets in the product. Importantly, PFA already has a significant presence in the alternative space and, in particular, in private equity and renewable energy. A large fraction of their alternative portfolio is managed in-house. Among other things, PFA is thinking about adding timberland investments as a new asset class to achieve net zero emissions. Lorenzen and Larsen need to determine if they could leverage their existing team and processes to invest in timberland and whether it is the right time to launch a climate-focused product. This case provides a good platform for discussion on direct investing in the alternative space and the role of alternatives for large institutional investors.

On March 26, 2020, Singapore Airlines was reeling from the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. To raise badly needed capital, it announced that its shareholders would be offered S$5.3 billion worth of rights shares and S$3.5 billion of rights mandatory convertible bonds, both of which would be reflected as equity on its balance sheet. Should shareholders take advantage of this offer or not? To make this decision, investors had to analyze the airline's reasons for choosing this form of equity financing, the impact of this capital-raising exercise, Singapore Airline's valuation, and the role of sovereign wealth funds in equity financing. Investors would have to decide the appropriate response to the rights issuances.

A recent master of business administration degree graduate, had discovered a problem with inventory management in her family's business. Agrawal Kitchenware Distributors (Agrawal), a wholesaler and distributor of kitchenware items, appeared to be well-off according to its financials, but when she had toured the company's warehouse, she discovered several problems with the inventory, and there was no management system that could identify, track, or resolve the inventory problems. Because Agrawal was a family business, the changes needed to be acceptable to both brothers who owned and managed the business, and the changes needed to be fairly simple to implement and maintain. What inventory management technique would be suitable in these circumstances?

Health care was one of the largest sectors of the U.S. economy, but administration costs accounted for a growing share of health care spending. The administrative burden for health care in the United States was far higher than in other countries-was this an area ripe for transformation, and greater efficiency? While a typical credit card transaction might process immediately, health insurance payments could take many weeks to process. A primary care physician in the United States, for instance, might have to spend $20 or more to submit a single bill and collect payment, far more than the comparable cost in other countries. This case study explores the structural factors that contribute to high administrative costs in health care, from regulatory compliance costs, to the large number of unique contracts between insurance companies and providers, to the complex contractual requirements-and multiple provider manuals and updates. For this sector, what was holding back the innovation and efficiency that had evolved within the traditional finance ecosystem? Would health care billing emerge as the next big disruption target-and what pathway would offer innovators the best chance of success?

Being a century-old family business, Li & Fung ("LF") had celebrated its evolution from a small trading company to a well-established, internationally recognized supply chain solution provider. However, the rapid advancement of internet technology and e-commerce development in recent years challenged the company's once-innovative business model. Although LF had aggressively streamlined and transformed its business, the company was still struggling to turn around. However, the recent trade war between the U.S. and China, along with the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, triggered the Fung family to consider taking the company private. Case A enables students to take the role of LF's consultant to assess the motives, challenges, pricing, regulatory and financial implications of the going-private offer before making a recommendation to the company. Case B describes the actual outcome and the immediate developments of the company after taking it private. The new hindsight enables students to revisit the company's go-private decision in light of the new developments, offering students an opportunity to understand the agency conflict between the majority and minority shareholders in a listed family business. It also raises the question of whether going private is considered necessary for the Fung family. A moral dilemma would emerge towards the end, stimulating students to think about the issue of ethical leadership.

Supplement to the Li and Fung: Stay Public or Go Private (A). Case B describes the actual outcome and the immediate developments of the company after taking it private. The new hindsight enables students to revisit the company's go-private decision in light of the new developments, offering students an opportunity to understand the agency conflict between the majority and minority shareholders in a listed family business. It also raises the question of whether going private is considered necessary for the Fung family. A moral dilemma would emerge towards the end, stimulating students to think about the issue of ethical leadership.

The Morales couple, Carlos and María, and Andrés Córdoba, shareholders of the twenty-year old Colombian mining company Carbostar, wanted to step down from the day-to-day management of the company in March 2018. To do so, they considered three options: selling the entire Company to Carbones de Panamá; partnering with Carbones Julius, which was willing to buy 45% of the shares as long as the founders participated in an aggressive expansion plan by increasing debt; or selling 60% of the shares to Maklan, a coal producer and supplier of heavy machinery in the industry, which could accept a generous dividend policy given its financial muscle. As the majority shareholder (with 75% of the shares), Carlos Morales was not convinced about allowing third parties to manage the company he had founded. He secretly longed for one of his children to take over the company in the future. His wife María (Andrés' sister) held 12.5% of the shares. Her interests lay in receiving an income from the business and she had no preconceived ideas on whether it was convenient to open up to third parties. Andrés Córdoba held the remai ning 12.5% of the shares. He was interested in creating a family office with the resources from the total or partial sale of Carbostar. As the financial expert of the group, he was responsible for advising his partners on their course of action. Andrés' challenge, which will be the task for students, is to find the option that best balances the disparate interests of his partners.

Spreadsheet supplement for "Carbostar: To sell or not to sell? That is the question".