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PepsiCo Inc. spanned more than 190 countries and accounted for approximately one-quarter of the world's soft drinks. The vice-president of finance for PepsiCo East Asia had been collecting data on the firm's proposed equity joint venture in Changchun, People's Republic of China (PRC). While PepsiCo was already involved in seven joint ventures in the PRC, this proposal would be one of the first two green-field equity joint ventures with PepsiCo control over both the board and day-to-day management. Every investment project at PepsiCo had to go through a systematic evaluation process that involved using capital budgeting tools such as new present value (NPV) and internal rate of return (IRR). He needed to decide if the proposed Changchun joint venture would meet PepsiCo's required return on investment. He was also concerned what the local partners would think of the project. The final decision would be made after a presentation to the president of PepsiCo Asia-Pacific.

Lufthansa, the flagship German airline, was undertaking an aggressive expansion program. The chairman of the board had negotiated a deal with Boeing for the purchase of 20 new aircraft at a cost of US$500 million. The U.S. dollar was at historic highs and he had to decide how much, if any, of the US$500 million purchase price to hedge and best method to use. Since Lufthansa's revenues were mainly in deutsche marks and this amount was payable in one year, he needed to determine how to deal with the resulting foreign exchange risk by examining principle foreign exchange hedging strategies. Covenants restricting Lufthansa to take on new debt made it critical that he be sure of the financing and risk exposure before finalizing the deal.

International finance plays a large, although often hidden, role in our lives. As a result, an understanding of this market is essential to understanding the new global economy. In this note, students are provided with a thorough introduction to the foreign exchange market from a Canadian perspective. The history of the Canadian dollar, from confederation until the present is chronicled. Many aspects of the current flexible exchange rate system and the terminology used in the different exchange markets - the spot, forward, future, options and swap markets - are introduced.

Through an innovative new policy forged with a single insurer, Honeywell is consolidating risks as diverse as fire protection and currency fluctuations--and saving a bundle.

The financial uncertainty in Hong Kong and Asia from mid-1997 to mid-1998 was caused in part by the Asian flu and the return of Hong Kong to the People's Republic of China. A large North American-based insurance company was faced with the decision of managing its Asian assets in light of this uncertainty, especially the possible breaking of the peg between the Hong Kong dollar and the U.S. dollar. As the vice-president of capital markets at Manulife Financial contemplated what strategy he would recommend to the senior executive group, he considered the concepts of fixed/pegged exchange rates and the use of different strategies to manage the risks, as well as the potential profit opportunities that may arise when a fixed/pegged exchange rate is under attack and may break.

Spreadsheet Supplement for case 201082

A major U.K.-based multinational is reevaluating its leverage policy as it restructures its business. The treasury team models the tradeoffs between the benefits and costs of debt financing, using Monte Carlo simulation to estimate the savings from the interest tax shields and expected financial distress costs under several sets of leverage policies. The group treasurer (CFO) must decide whether and how the simulation results should be incorporated into a recommendation to the board of directors and, more generally, what recommendation to make regarding the firm's leverage policy.

The chief executive officer of the venture capitalist Portal Investments had to decide whether to invest in eHarvest.com, a company with a vision to become the worldwide Internet portal for production agriculture. To do so, he needed to examine Portal Investment's strategic objectives; eHarvest.com's business model and the challenges and opportunities it faced in carrying it out; and issues related to valuation and deal structuring.

In April 2000, Ford Motor Co. announced a shareholder Value Enhancement Plan (VEP) to significantly recapitalize the firm's ownership structure. Ford had accumulated $23 billion in cash reserves and under the VEP would return as much as $10 billion of this cash to shareholders. In exchange for each share currently held, the plan would give stockholders one new share plus the choice of receiving $20 in either cash or additional new Ford common shares. Shareholders electing to receive cash would be taxed on these distributions at capital gain rates. Among other things, the plan provided a means for the Ford family to obtain liquidity without having to dilute their 40% voting interest (even though they own only 5% of the shares outstanding). Students must wrestle with the following questions: Why was Ford proposing this transaction instead of a traditional share repurchase or a cash dividend? How did the interests of the Ford family factor into this decision, and what did the transaction imply about the future involvement of the family in the company? Why was Ford distributing such a significant amount of cash at this particular point in time? Did the distribution signal a change in the company's appetite for making acquisitions or future capital expenditures? If shareholders collectively elected to receive less than $10 billion in cash, how would Ford distribute the remaining cash?

Rick Melnick oversees the Student Educational Loan Fund (SELF), which provides loans to Harvard Business School students. SELF is changing the terms of student loans from variable-rate with semiannual payments to fixed-rate loans with equal monthly payments. Melnick must decide how to finance SELF in light of the new loan mix. SELF can use a wide range of interest rate derivative products to modify the terms of its existing financing.

Following the BP/Amoco merger in December 1998, CFO David Watson asked Bill Young to recommend when and under what circumstances the firm should use external project finance instead of internal corporate funds to finance new capital investments. As part of this assignment, Young and his team must review each firm's current policy regarding project finance and evaluate the various rationales used to justify its use. Following this review, his team created a new policy statement recommending that BP Amoco finance capital expenditures using corporate funds except in three special circumstances: mega projects, projects in politically volatile areas, and joint ventures with heterogeneous partners. Whether the general rule of using corporate funds and whether the specific exceptions to the rule are appropriate for the merged entity are subjects for class discussion.

Pharmacyclics (NASDAQ: PCYC), a pharmaceutical company that manufactures products that will improve existing therapeutic treatments for cancer, arteriosclerosis, and retinal disease, was considering a $60 million private placement in February 2000. The company had more cash than ever before, but projections of R&D and marketing expenses were also unprecedented. PCYC's most promising oncology drug, a radiation enhancer called Xcytrin, was in Phase III clinical trials--the rigorous final phase before FDA approval for commercialization. Analysts gave the drug a slightly better than 50% chance of success. This case focuses on stage financing and a simple decision-tree evaluation. Students have the opportunity to consider the impact of past staged financing decisions on the ownership structure of the firm and to evaluate the current stock market price in light of analyst forecasts of the cash flow and the probability of success for each drug. These two analyses help inform the private placement decision.

British Petroleum and Amoco were the two largest members of the Azerbaijan International Oil Consortium (AIOC), an 11-firm consortium that was spending $10 billion to develop oil fields in the Caspian Sea. As of March 1999, AIOC had completed a $1.9 billion development project known as Early Oil. The two companies, however, had financed their shares of this project in different ways: BP used internal funds (traditional, on-balance sheet corporate finance), whereas Amoco was one of five AIOC partners that raised $400 million of project finance. Following the BP/Amoco merger in December 1998, managers in the combined firm's finance group had to reassess the Early Oil financing strategy and determine the best way to finance its share of the $8 billion Full Field Development Project. Should it use internal funds, project finance, or a mixture of the two?

Project Achieve is a start-up providing information management solutions for schools. Its founders see a need for software both to manage the volumes of information necessary to administer a school and to connect parents, teachers, and students in a more effective way. Originally funded by angel investors, Project Achieve is raising its first formal round of financing and needs to establish a firm valuation. This case outlines the economics of the business and provides the necessary background figures to build the business model and arrive at a valuation. Explores quantitative considerations of venture financing: 1) value neutrality of equity issuance is illustrated; 2) cost of capital is computed from raw return series, and the appropriate discount rate is selected based on comparables; 3) decision trees are used to highlight the importance of probabilistic thinking; and (4) subscriber models are compared with annual free cash flow models both for determining financial value and as decision-making tools for business choices. In addition, provides a setting to discuss the more qualitative issues involved in choosing investors. In particular, the founders are comparing two options: an infusion of additional capital from current and new investors or an investment from a potential strategic partner. Each option has very different implications for the direction of the business going forward.

Spreadsheet Supplement for case 201067

Hajdu-Bet, the largest private poultry producer and distributor in Hungary, was seeking to expand and had approached the investment committee of a major venture capital company. The company had recently raised a fund to invest in opportunities in the former central and eastern European countries and was keen to find suitable candidates. Though Hajdu-Bet showed promise, the company was not prepared to compromise on the standards required of any new investment and decided to carry out a detailed assessment of Hajdu-Bet. As the members of the investment committee considered the results of the various investigations, they had to decide whether to proceed with the investment and, if so, on what terms and conditions. Alternatively, they could demand additional information, conscious that a further delay might lose them the opportunity.

The managing director, the financial director, and the technical director of a large construction and property firm in Hong Kong are in disagreement. The firm is being squeezed and needs to free cash to pay maturing loans that the banks are calling in in response to the Asian financial crisis. The two senior officers, both from mainland China, agree on deferring payments to their major suppliers, whereas the technical officer, an expatriate from the United Kingdom, insists that the supplier contracts must be honored. Differing ideas regarding relationships and control are rooted in their different cultural traditions. The managing director and his financial director have to decide what to do.

Spreadsheet to (9-201-056). Presents exhibits 2, 3, 4, 9, 10, and 11. Download only.