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In 2014, Alibaba—the Chinese e-commerce giant who, in September 2014, completed the largest initial public offering (IPO) in New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) history—was preparing itself for an additional round of capital fundraising. This time, Alibaba focused its efforts on a new, large bond issue. Its chief executive officer would lead Alibaba’s finance team in meetings with investors in Hong Kong, Singapore, and London to gather information about this pending bond issue. <br><br>Although Alibaba was listed on the NYSE, an overwhelming majority of its revenues originated in China. Most U.S. investors had not heard of Alibaba until just a few months prior to its IPO in September 2014. Also, being a high-tech company, Alibaba was subject to the potential for large swings in valuations typical for the industry. Fluid valuations and matters related to country risk premia meant pricing the bond issue was going to be a challenge. How would Alibaba estimate the bonds’ pricing? Further, how should the firm determine the location and timing of the new bond issue?

In July 2014, WH Group faced the issue of attempting to launch an initial public offering for the second time, after having previously failed to list its shares on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. WH Group originated from a merger between two meat-processing companies: China’s Shuanghui International—a global leader in animal protein and the world’s largest pork producer—and Smithfield Foods from the United States. Both Shuanghui and Smithfield Foods commanded top market shares of pork consumption in their respective countries; Shuanghui controlled 2 per cent in China and Smithfield Foods captured 26 per cent in the United States. With many challenges ahead, WH Group had some decisions to make about the company’s future. Should the company try again to launch an initial public offering? Or should the company remain private?

This case follows the financial-statement forecasting decisions of a Deutsche Bank research analyst for the natural and organic retailer Whole Foods Market in May 2014. Students evaluate the associated financial ratios with the forecast to ascertain whether the industry dynamics and company strategy are consistent with the forecast. The case expressly focuses on the asset side of the balance sheet as a preview for other cases using free cash flow forecasting. The forecast exercise exposes students to the mechanics of financial statement modeling and sensitivity analysis. Using a supplementary exhibit, the case can also be used to explore techniques in firm valuation with students debating whether the analyst should recommend a "buy" or a "sell."

Student spreadsheet for case UV7269.

This case invites students to assess the financial performance of FedEx Corp. and United Parcel Service, Inc., two firms that have long competed for dominance in the overnight delivery industry. The case is designed to introduce students to corporate value creation and its sources. It requires no numerical computations; instead, it asks the student to interpret the results and to reflect upon their implications.

Student spreadsheet for case UV7414.

Singapore Post Limited (SingPost), Singapore's sole Public Postal Licensee, had set its sights on becoming the regional leader in e-commerce logistics and trusted communications. This goal was achieved through multi-million-dollar acquisitions in warehouses, freight forwarders, and parcel pickup services. Among the acquisitions were the 'Famous Acquisitions' comprising Famous Holdings Pte Ltd, FS Mackenzie Limited, and Famous Pacific Shipping (NZ) Limited. Between December 2015 and May 2016, a chain of events related to the 'Famous Acquisitions' unfolded at SingPost: its public admission of lapses in corporate governance disclosure, a special audit, a corporate governance review, resignation of the lead independent director, and change of the board chairman. The case discusses these events and describes what SingPost subsequently did to improve its corporate governance practices.

Edwin Lee, is a fourth generation member of the Lee family. He owns and runs Sun Hing Group, and is a board member of the Simon KY Lee Foundation. The Foundation was established in 1985 and managed by Edwin's grandfather until his passing in 2010. Largely inspired by the family's experience with other charitable organizations, it underwent a major reorganization to accommodate a business model where social innovation is central to the Foundation's charitable activities, and where the entire multi-generational family volunteers to participate in the decision-making process. As next in line to be the senior decision maker, Edwin's challenge is to reconcile his professional ambitions of making a large-scale social impact as a philanthropist with his family's wish for him to become the guardian of the family's business. The question is, to what extent Edwin should be involved simultaneously with the family business operations and The Simon KY Lee Foundation's charitable activities in achieving his personal and family's objectives and in ensuring the Foundation's future development?

In April 2015, Shannon Enberg, Managing Director of Real Assets at the United Kingdom Telecom and Technology Pension Scheme (UKTTPS), received a startling memo from the fund's board of directors. In a nutshell, the board sought to reduce the fund's multimillion-pound annual expenditure on management fees by asking all managing directors to drastically cut the number of private managers being used to manage UKTTPS assets. Enberg was told to cut the number of her external managers in half, but given the illiquidity of her private equity investments in commercial property, she would be allowed to make the decision to rehire each manager (or not) as each of her investments matured. UKTTPS had two investments in closed-end property funds that had just liquidated their final holdings at the end of 2014. Both managers had new funds being raised that could recycle the investment proceeds, but now that she was being forced to cut back, Enberg wondered whether either was really worth rehiring.

Student spreadsheet for case KEL996.

The set of four cases composing the Fur Industry Merger Exercise affords the opportunity for a merger negotiation among students. Three potential buyers (Adams, Jindo, and Lessard) compete for two potential sellers (Adams and Gallery of Furs). The cases give detailed financial forecasts for the target firms that are unique to each party. The forecasts form the basis for valuation of the target companies. The merger opportunities are prompted by major competitive changes in the worldwide fur-garment industry and by adverse changes in demand in U.S. fur retailing. The exercise affords insights into the challenges of cross-border acquisitions. Groupe Lessard is a Canadian producer of fur garments and is considering obtaining U.S. retail channels of distribution. The "Groupe Lessard" case may be used on a stand-alone basis to illustrate aspects of valuation in a merger setting.

The set of four cases composing the Fur Industry Merger Exercise affords the opportunity for a merger negotiation among students. Three potential buyers (Adams, Jindo, and Lessard) compete for two potential sellers (Adams and Gallery of Furs). The cases give detailed financial forecasts for the target firms that are unique to each party. The forecasts form the basis for valuation of the target companies. The merger opportunities are prompted by major competitive changes in the worldwide fur-garment industry and by adverse changes in demand in U.S. fur retailing. The exercise affords insights into the challenges of cross-border acquisitions. Gallery of Furs is the second largest retailer of fur coats and garments in the United States. Its recent poor financial performance has made it the target of an uninvited raid. In response, the company desires to sell its Fur Retailing Division on the most advantageous terms. The "Gallery of Furs" case may be used on a stand-alone basis to illustrate aspects of valuation in a merger setting.

Student spreadsheet for case UV2288.

Next India Traveler (NIT) was a travel and tour operator based in Chandigarh, India. The young start-up had been in business since 2012. It offered both inbound and outbound tour and travel packages that covered all the major tourist destinations in India and the Asia-Pacific region. NIT's motto was to provide its clients with best-in-class services for all aspects of travel and tourism, all under one roof. An upcoming meeting with a venture capitalist firm was crucial to NIT's future plans for growth, and the investors would certainly want to have a clear idea of the company's value. Thus, before making his pitch to the venture capital firm, NIT's owner wanted to perform a valuation of his start-up. Unfortunately, the lack of long-term data and a proven methodology for valuing relatively new companies meant the owner faced a considerable challenge in terms of identifying the most appropriate model for the task.

Sally Tan, an equity analyst with Prospero Asset Management Company (PAMC), is tasked with recommending units of four Singapore REITs (Real Estate Investment Trust) - CapitaLand Mall Trust (CMT), Ascendas REIT (A-REIT), Soilbuild Business Space REIT (Soilbuild REIT), and Parkway Life REIT (P-Life REIT) for three of PAMC's portfolios: 1. The Prudent Equity Fund that targeted equity investors with a low risk appetite and desired stable, recurring dividend income; 2. The Balanced Equity Fund that targeted equity investors with a moderate risk appetite and expected a combination of dividend income and capital gains; and 3. The Wealth Accumulation Fund that targeted equity investors with a high risk appetite focussing on total returns. These investors were indifferent between dividend income and capital gains and also wanted an exposure to overseas markets. To enable unit selection, the case provides information on the operating and financial performance, the unit prices and distributions of the four Singapore REITs, as well as the underlying macroeconomic drivers. As of November 2016, there were over thirty REITs listed on the Singapore Exchange (SGX). Singapore listed REITs have a sector focus i.e. their portfolios consisted almost exclusively of assets from one of the following sub-markets - residential, retail, industrial, office, healthcare and hospitality. The REITs chosen in this case study comprise the largest REITs in the retail (CMT), industrial (A-REIT) and healthcare (P-Life REIT sectors, and an industrial REIT whose operating and financial performance is weak (Soilbuild REIT), to enable the class to get an exposure to retail, industrial and healthcare REITs and distinguish REITs with weaker business and financial profiles from stronger ones.

This case was designed as an introduction to a finance course or a module on capital markets. Alternatively, it could be used as a basic introduction to methods of valuing a firm. A detailed teaching note provides instructors with a teaching plan for either scenario. Set in August 2015, students are asked to evaluate Warren Buffett's decision to acquire the aerospace-parts supplier Precision Castparts Corporation (PCP), which would be the largest-ever deal for Berkshire Hathaway, Buffett's holding company.

Private investment in public infrastructure can be encouraged when there are multiple avenues to capture and to share the value created by such a project. Gains in the market value of land adjacent to projects are not customarily channeled back into defraying the original capital cost of the project-but they can be. This case uses irrigation, agriculture, land values, and an arrangement between the local government in northern Peru and the privatizer firm to accomplish the irrigation of vast areas of land, leading to jobs and GDP growth in the state, based on a combination of fees for water, auction price for raw land, investment in enabling infrastructure, and market value increases for irrigated land. The mechanics of this three-component deal (land company, water distribution company, construction company) are tracked on a pro forma multi-year cash flow basis with the ability to make and test a variety of different assumptions. The choice of an agricultural setting with one possible use case (farming at ground level) leads in to more complex value capture analyses. Real estate, for example, can have more dimensions (more floors allowed) and more use cases (retail, housing, office) than does agriculture. The local government can accomplish hundreds of millions of dollars of construction without advancing any funds to do so.