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Instructor spreadsheet for product 8B18N016.

Student Spreadsheet for product 9B18N016.

On April 20, 2016, printer and ink maker Lexmark International, Inc. (Lexmark) announced that it was being acquired and taken private by a consortium comprising China-based computer hardware company Apex Technology Co., Ltd. (Apex), as well as private equity firms PAG Asia Capital (PAG) and Legend Capital (Legend). On the same day, Apex formally announced its acquisition of Lexmark for the Chinese capital market. The announcement caused a huge sensation because Apex was a small company compared to Lexmark; Lexmark completed 2015 with US$3.6 billion in revenue-approximately 10 times the revenue of Apex. To raise enough money to pay for the acquisition, Apex had established the consortium with PAG and Legend, and borrowed a large sum of money from its controlling shareholder and banks. Although Apex had ultimately raised enough money to complete the acquisition, its satisfaction over this success soon gave way to pressing questions about financing. In order to dispel the doubts of regulators and the market, Apex needed to decide whether it should adjust its financing plan for the acquisition, and if so, how.

Student spreadsheet for case W18575

In 2018, private equity firm Clayton, Dubilier & Rice celebrated its 40th anniversary and its 20th year under the leadership of CEO Don Gogel. In those decades, CD&R showed solid portfolio performance and generated strong returns for its investors - accomplishments attributed to its unique balance between operations and finance professionals. The firm made sure that, for every deal, it had both the finance and operations expertise to grow revenues, streamline operations, and truly turnaround distressed companies. But as CD&R entered into its fifth decade and its largest fund to date (nearly $10 billion AUM), competition, AUMs, industry "dry powder," and buyout valuations were all on the rise. Within CD&R, rapidly-evolving technologies, talent retention, and the prospect of Gogel's retirement presented additional sources of pressure. Gogel and his team had to consider whether CD&R could maintain its unique identity and continue to add value as it had in the past in the face of such circumstances.

The University Club at the University of Regina was in financial distress. The club had been losing money for several years and was being subsidized by the University of Regina. However, due to budget cuts by the Saskatchewan government, the university was no longer in a position to subsidize the operations of the club. The board of the club had to make some tough decisions at this time. Could the club exist without university subsidy? Should the board increase membership fees, increase the number of members, or simply close the club? To make an informed decision they needed to perform a detailed analysis of the financial statements. An accounting professor, who had recently joined the club's board, suggested performing ratio analysis to assess the problem areas.

Student spreadsheet for case W18535

Instructor Spreadsheet for product 8B18N020.

Student Spreadsheet for product 9B18N020.

This exercise places the reader in the position of an investor, who, before 2017, had invested for almost 20 years. Since the financial crisis in 2008–09, this investor had stayed away from the US market. The investor’s return from the previous year stood at a mere 2 per cent. Given that many political events would likely occur in 2017, the investor hoped to revise their investment strategies at the time by developing a more internationalized portfolio. Specifically, the investor was considering how to allocate capital among the existing 10 broker-recommended exchange-traded funds traded on the Singapore stock exchange and two exchange-traded funds in alternative assets traded in the US market. The investor also needed to provide additional cash flows for the education of their two daughters from year two onward for a total of four years. The investor was also willing to reshuffle the investment portfolio to put more weights into the US market. However, before making the revised investment decision, the investor needed to consider the expected returns and risks.

In the spring of 2018, the Senior Associate Dean for Strategic Financial Planning at Harvard Business School considers potential refinements to the School's financial management practices. He faced questions about whether the metrics that had been used to evaluate financial health were appropriate and about whether key processes that worked well in the past should be reexamined.

The case describes how Roman Khan and Jennifer Chen founded Linjer, a start-up with a limited budget, which successfully generated cashflows via crowdfunding. Linjer is a boutique design house in Hong Kong which offers minimally-designed leather bags and watches, which it sells online globally. Passionate about style and quality, the two founders started the venture in 2014 with a budget of US$20,000. Like most start-ups, Linjer faced limitations on access to traditional funding from financial institutions. As a result, the founders spent half the budget on their first crowdfunding campaign, creating video and photographs establishing Linjer as a classy, high-end brand, and more importantly, one whose products could initially only be procured through online crowdfunding. The rest of the money went to the production of prototypes of their first product, the Soft Briefcase. The case is set in September 2018, when Linjer's management is deciding on next steps the company will take: (1) to continue the business as is; (2) to take funding from venture-capital investors; and/or (3) other alternatives including, but not limited to, selling the company.

After much internal debate, THE VELUX FOUNDATIONS of Denmark have decided to allocate a small percentage of their investment portfolio to impact investments. Cambridge Associates, one of the leading investment advisory firms in the world, has been engaged to assist them in developing and implementing an "impact strategy." VELUX only invests in funds (as opposed to direct investments) and must now decide on fund selection criteria and on specific fund investment options that have been presented to them.

Under the visionary leadership of Hiroshi Yamauchi, Nintendo Co., Ltd. (Nintendo) of Japan had transformed from a small founder-controlled business to a global and professionalized firm. Yamauchi’s death in 2013 had the potential to affect Nintendo’s corporate financial policy. Following his passing, Yamauchi’s family was left with a huge inheritance—but also an exorbitant inheritance tax bill. The family sought advice from Nintendo on how to deal with the matter. How could Nintendo solve this financial trouble in a way that balanced the interests of both the family and Nintendo’s management?

Under the visionary leadership of Hiroshi Yamauchi, Nintendo Co., Ltd. (Nintendo) of Japan had transformed from a small founder-controlled business to a global and professionalized firm. Yamauchi's death in 2013 had the potential to affect Nintendo's corporate financial policy. Following his passing, Yamauchi's family was left with a huge inheritance-but also an exorbitant inheritance tax bill. The family sought advice from Nintendo on how to deal with the matter. How could Nintendo solve this financial trouble in a way that balanced the interests of both the family and Nintendo's management?

The A case in this series takes the viewpoint of a senior portfolio manager who has to decide how to vote the shares held by Wells Fargo Asset Management: she can vote for the current board members of Imation Corp. (IMN) or for the nominees put forward by an activist hedge fund. The hedge fund sent an open letter to IMN shareholders seeking support to replace the key members of IMN's board, as the first step in pushing through sweeping changes in compensation and strategy at IMN. The case illustrates the power of an activist investor to change the governance and strategy of a company. The B case reveals that the activist's nominees were elected, and a series of decisions ensued that dismantled IMN. The case presents students with ethical questions regarding the treatment of IMN shareholders; it also highlights the influence of proxy advisers in a proxy vote. The case has been taught in an MBA corporate finance elective as the second class in activism, following another activist case, "Genzyme and Relational Investors: Science and Business Collide?" (UVA-F-1660). It can be taught to all undergraduate and graduate levels of business students, as well as seasoned executives.

Supplement to case UV7587.

Supplement to case UV7587.