Publications

22 Apr 2014
First Look

First Look: April 22

misvaluation on merger and acquisition activity. Debt misvaluation helps explain the shifting dominance of financial acquirers (private equity firms) relative to strategic... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

June 2024
Supplement

Instructors should consider the timing of making videos available to students, as they may reveal key case details.

Stephen Holbrook and Austin Pulsipher (both HBS '19) had been leading Nutrishare since acquiring the company six months earlier in mid-2021.... View Details

October 2013
Module Note

Note on LBO Capital Structure

By: Victoria Ivashina, Paul A. Gompers, Paul A. Gompers, Victoria Ivashina, Joris Van Gool and Joris Van Gool

This note discusses the capital structure often found in LBO transactions. Although the specifics of each capital structure vary case by case, in any given year, there is a great deal of similarity in the capital structure of these buyouts. These similarities exist... View Details

Keywords: Leveraged Buyouts; Capital Structure

Career Coach

Annette Rodriguez-Ferrer

(now CCMP Capital). Annette has significate public, private and non-profit Board experience. Currently, she serves as Executive Chairperson of Wax Center Partners and previously held Board positions with... View Details

Keywords: Consumer Products; Entrepreneurship; Impact Investing; Financial Services (All); Investment Banking; Financial Services (All); Investment Management; Financial Services (All); Private Equity; Financial Services (All); Health Care; Retail; Startup - Founder; Entrepreneurship; Startup - Joiner; Entrepreneurship

August 2005
Background Note

Dual Class Share Companies

By: Samuel L. Hayes III, Lynn S. Paine and Christopher Bruner

Provides a brief historical overview of dual class share companies in the United States, focusing on the New York Stock Exchange's evolving position on dual class structures since the 1920s, the impact of hostile takeovers on their use since the 1980s, and recent... View Details

Keywords: Acquisition; Debates; Capital Structure; Equity; Business History; Law; Organizational Structure; Business and Shareholder Relations; Perspective; Europe; United States

21 Jan 2009
First Look

First Look: January 21, 2009

the company into Arrow to maximize its value if he does the deal. Provides information to permit valuing the acquisition and developing a post-merger integration strategy and... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

20 Mar 2005
Research & Ideas

Lessons of Successful Entrepreneurs

acquisition activities, he said. "That's nuts." Steve Hafner, founder and CEO of Kayak.com, an online travel information site, said an alternative to growing your own customers is to secure... View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne

April 2016 (Revised June 2017)
Teaching Note

Dollar General Bids for Family Dollar

By: Jonas Heese, Paula A. Price and Suraj Srinivasan

In spring 2015, Dollar General CEO Rick Dreiling was looking ahead to retiring at year's end but worried about ensuring continued growth for the company he had built since 2008 into a market leader in the U.S. discount retail world. Dollar General operated over 11,500... View Details

Keywords: Dollar General; Family Dollar; Dollar Tree; Antitrust; Board Of Directors; Activist Investors; Federal Trade Commission; Acquisition; Valuation; Corporate Strategy; Retail Industry

February 2002 (Revised February 2004)
Case

Brazos Partners: the CoMark LBO

By: Josh Lerner, G. Felda Hardymon and Ann Leamon

The partners of a new midmarket buyout fund are working on a buyout of a closely held modular building company. Although originally structured as a stock deal, they have realized that an asset deal would be preferable from their point of view and are trying to... View Details

Keywords: Leveraged Buyouts; Negotiation Deal; Valuation

June 2009
Teaching Note

COFCO Xinjiang Tunhe Co., Ltd. (TN)

By: David E. Bell, Sarah Morton and Mary Louise Shelman

Teaching Note for [508079]. View Details

Keywords: Mergers and Acquisitions; Customer Focus and Relationships; Goals and Objectives; Quality; Price; Competitive Strategy; Contracts; Supply and Industry; Business or Company Management; Problems and Challenges; Safety; Cost Management; Food and Beverage Industry; Food and Beverage Industry; China

June 2023 (Revised March 2024)
Case

Creating World-Class Board Governance at SECO

By: Krishna G. Palepu and Emer Moloney

In Spring 2023, SECO CEO Massimo Mauri had the ambition to grow the €200 million revenue technology company to a €1 billion company by 2030. Founded in Italy in the 1970s, the family-owned company had gone through a period of growth and internationalization,... View Details

September 2006
Teaching Note

OfficeTiger (TN)

By: Joseph B. Lassiter III

Teaching Note to (804-109). View Details

Keywords: Innovation and Invention; Job Cuts and Outsourcing; Service Delivery; Mergers and Acquisitions; Cross-Cultural and Cross-Border Issues; India; Europe; United States; Asia

18 Apr 2017
First Look

First Look at New Ideas, April 18

from activist investors. Danaher, by contrast, had performed strongly in the years leading up to the spinoff. It had spent the previous decade strengthening its portfolio in sectors such as life sciences and dental products with View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne

May 2013
Case

Yammer (A)

By: Mikolaj J. Piskorski, Kerry Herman and Aaron Smith

In Spring 2012, Yammer was on track to become a highly successful standalone company. Yammer was a leading Enterprise Social Network (ESN), providing companies a private social network in which employees could collaborate securely and efficiently. However, later that... View Details

Keywords: Information Infrastructure; Opportunities; Applications and Software; Organizational Culture; Problems and Challenges; Management Teams; Integration; Decision Choices and Conditions; Social and Collaborative Networks; Acquisition; Information Technology Industry

Keywords: Securities, Commodities, and Other Financial Investments; Securities, Commodities, and Other Financial Investments; Securities, Commodities, and Other Financial Investments; Securities, Commodities, and Other Financial Investments

29 Jul 2014
First Look

First Look: July 29

data security, implementation challenges, and the limits of education technology's impact in the classroom. Purchase this case: http://hbr.org/product/technology-innovations-in-k-12-education/an/314123-PDF-ENG Harvard Business School Case... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

Career Coach

Kelsey Holland

through – Acquisition club and plans to launch her own search fund after graduation with the goal of acquiring a software company. She would love to help you think through the right startup role, stage of... View Details

27 Sep 2004
Research & Ideas

How Leaders Build Winning Streaks

Self-confidence is not the real secret of leadership. The more essential ingredient is confidence in other people. Leadership involves motivating others to their finest efforts and channeling those efforts in a coherent direction. Leaders... View Details

Keywords: by Rosabeth Moss Kanter

01 Dec 2009
News

Hope for Reform Dims

led to Merrill’s acquisition by Bank of America,” he recalled. Three weeks after the deal closed on January 1, 2009, Thain was forced to resign as controversy swirled around the generous terms of the $50 billion deal View Details

June 2011
Case

Fighting a Dangerous Financial Fire: The Federal Response to the Crisis of 2007-2009

By: David Moss and Cole Bolton

By the summer of 2009, many observers concluded that a catastrophic financial collapse- which seemed all but imminent the previous fall and winter - had been averted. Although the recession had still yet to be declared over and the economy's footing remained far from... View Details

Keywords: Business Cycles; Economic Slowdown and Stagnation; Financial Crisis; Financial Institutions; Financial Markets; Financial Strategy; Policy; Knowledge Acquisition