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Radio One (NYSE: ROIA and RIOAK), the largest radio group targeting African-Americans in the country, had the opportunity to acquire 12 urban stations in the top 50 markets from Clear Channel Communications, Inc. (NYSE: CCU) in the winter of 2000. The stations were being sold by Clear Channel Communications, Inc. to obtain Federal Communications Commission (FCC) approval for its acquisition of AMFM, Inc. (NYSE: AFM). Radio One was also negotiating the acquisition of nine stations in Charlotte, North Carolina, Augusta, Georgia, and Indianapolis, Indiana. The proposed acquisitions would double the size of Radio One. The case focuses on the strategic and financial evaluation of the proposed acquisitions.

The CEO of a successful Internet start-up must decide whether to delay the company's initial public offering following a significant decline in the NASDAQ market during the spring of 2000. The company's CFO is asked to reevaluate the company's projected cash flow needs in light of the new requirement that in order to go public, Internet companies must show positive cash flows within a 12-month horizon. While examining ways to extend the company's working capital, the CFO considers various changes to the company's existing business model, including changes in the company's contractual relationships with both its suppliers and its customers.

This technical note compares two methods of treating debt usage in discounted-cash-flow valuation of investment projects or companies. The note demonstrates that the approach using weighted average cost of capital (WACC) and the approach using equity residual (ER) yield equivalent results if consistent assumptions are used. General features are illustrated with specific examples, including a spreadsheet.

Spreadsheet supplement for 201042.

Provides an overview of corporate venture investment.

Provides an overview of raising venture capital and private equity funds.

This case contains common-size balance sheets and financial ratios for 10 companies, each representative of a different industry. Students are asked to identify the industries from the structure of the financial statements.

Spreadsheet supplement for 201039.

This note describes the basic elements and pricing of financial derivatives. Financial derivatives are contracts whose value is derived from the value of some other underlying asset, such as a share of common stock, a commodity (e.g., coffee, oil, or wheat), or a bond. Each derivative has its own special features and provisions, and each is used for a special financial purpose.

The vice-president of Robarts Research Institute is attempting to put together a financing structure for a biotechnology company, Diabetogen, being spun off by the Institute. He must assess the worth of the company, how the equity should be divided among its stakeholders, and how much of the company must be given up to first-round investors.

An innovative financial services provider is struggling to arrive at a fixed interest (or SWAP) rate needed by its client. The client's new project would take five years to reach capacity, at which time debt repayments would begin. Hence the client needed to lock in interest rates for the first 10 years of the project. To arrive at a price, the financial services provider planned to start with the zero coupon rate bond yield curve, testing various points along the curve. (The teaching note for this case consists of a PowerPoint presentation. A Microsoft Excel spreadsheet is also available for use with this case, product 7A99N034.)

Spreadsheet to (206-045). Download only.

New options on weather from Enron are described, in particular floors, swaps, and caps on heating degree days. An electric utility is considering whether to purchase a weather derivative to offset the risk of low volume of kilowatt hours. After understanding the nature and purpose of the contract, students will structure the option in preparation for valuing it.

New options on weather from Enron are described, in particular floors, swaps, and caps on heating degree days. An electric utility is considering whether to purchase a weather derivative to offset the risk of low volume of kilowatt hours. After understanding the nature and purpose of the contract, students will structure the option in preparation for valuing it.

Spreadsheet supplement for case UV0620.

CSFB equity research analyst Laura Martin publishes a report on valuing Cox Communications that introduces an innovative approach to valuation. She contends that EBITDA multiple analysis, typical for the cable industry, is flawed because it overlooks the value of the "stealth tier" (unused capacity on cable companies' fiber optic network). Martin proposes using real options valuation to impute value to the stealth tier, and she thereby arrives at a higher valuation for Cox stock. This provides the context for contrasting several valuation methodologies--traditional DCF analysis, regression-based ROIC and multiple analysis, and real option theory--and assessing how selected assumptions impact the various valuation techniques. In particular, Martin reviews ways in which the industry is evolving and students can think about how these changes impact which valuation method is most appropriate. More generally, this case provides a context for discussing the role of equity research analysts, highlighting all the constituencies they serve and how this can create conflicts of interest. Martin's application of real options theory provides an opportunity to evaluate where it works, where it doesn't, and why.

This case focuses on how much external financing a firm needs and what securities the firm should issue to raise this financing. Cox Communications is a major player in the cable industry, which is consolidating due to technological changes/capabilities brought about by the Internet. The corporate treasury of Cox Communications must decide how much external financing is necessary to finance a series of intra-industry acquisitions that Cox has recently undertaken. The choices are plain-vanilla equity, debt, asset sales, and a new equity-linked derivative known as FELINE PRIDES, offered by Merrill Lynch. The treasurer and his team must make this decision facing the usual market constraints. There are also some special constraints, including maintaining financial flexibility for further acquisitions and limiting the dilution of Cox's largest shareholder, who owns nearly 70% of the firm.