Publications

April 1991 (Revised July 1991)
Case

RJR Nabisco Board: Guardians of the Gate? (A)

By: Jay W. Lorsch

Charles Hugel, the chairman of RJR Nabisco, receives a call from RJR Nabisco's CEO, Ross Johnson; Johnson plans to present an LBO plan to the board of directors at the board meeting the following week. The case details Hugel's actions as chairman, and describes the... View Details

Keywords: Leveraged Buyouts; Situation or Environment; Bids and Bidding; Decision Making; Managerial Roles; Governing and Advisory Boards; Management Teams; Food and Beverage Industry; Food and Beverage Industry

November 2018
Teaching Note

The Tax Man: Taxes in Private Equity Real Estate

By: Nori Gerardo Lietz and Sayiddah Fatima McCree

Teaching Note for HBS No. 218-077. This teaching note provides the back up analysis for the various alternatives to be considered in choosing the optimal investment structure for the real estate acquisition. It contrasts the interests of the tax exempt investors... View Details

Keywords: Real Estate; Alternative Investment Structures; Taxation; Private Equity; Property; Acquisition; Conflict of Interests; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms

15 Dec 2009
First Look

First Look: Dec. 15, 2009

challenges facing those who wish to use game theory to assist in strategic and tactical decision making. Purchase this overview: http://cb.hbsp.harvard.edu/cb/product/707475-PDF-ENG Merger of Equals: The... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

January 2000 (Revised May 2007)
Case

Dressen

By: Thomas R. Piper and Jeremy Cott

Divisional management must decide whether to support a leveraged buyout by a private equity group and, if so, what percent of ownership should go to the various partners involved. The appropriateness of the financing structure and the value of the equity depend on the... View Details

Keywords: Leveraged Buyouts; Capital Structure; Valuation; Ownership Stake; Forecasting and Prediction

24 Jun 2002
Research & Ideas

Building ’Brandtopias’—How Top Brands Tap into Society

by a small start-up either in North Carolina or eastern Tennessee (the drink has two origin myths, he said with a smile), the high-sugar, high-caffeine, low-carbonation beverage battled very competitively against Coke and Pepsi before its... View Details

Keywords: by Martha Lagace

Profile

Suchita Prasad

responsibility for training and development, talent acquisition and labor negotiations. Coming to HBS has truly been transformative for me. I have gained an insight into... View Details

Keywords: Consulting; Manufacturing

16 Apr 2001
Research & Ideas

Making the Most of Government Upheaval

related businesses in the local market or even in other countries. Stage III: Acquisition of New Capabilities. Becoming increasingly sophisticated as they competed with larger foreign rivals, the firms developed new capabilities in areas... View Details

Keywords: by Nancy O. Perry

September 2003 (Revised March 2004)
Case

Yale University Investments Office: June 2003

By: Josh Lerner

The Yale Investments Office must decide whether to continue to allocate the bulk of the university's endowment to illiquid investments--hedge funds, private equity, real estate, and so forth. Considers the risks and benefits of a different asset allocation strategy.... View Details

Keywords: Leveraged Buyouts; Assets; Venture Capital; Private Equity; Investment Funds; Resource Allocation; Partners and Partnerships; Risk and Uncertainty; Strategy; Education Industry

12 Jul 2011
First Look

First Look: July 12

America's Largest Foreclosure faculty namesHarvard Business School Case 211-106 In July 2010, William Ackman, the founder of Pershing Square, is considering a potential new opportunity: the acquisition of the distressed Stuyvesant Town... View Details

Keywords: Carmen Nobel

05 May 2003
Research & Ideas

Sharing the Responsibility of Corporate Governance

entity is controlled by a fluid disaggregated group of public shareholders. Thus, the Delaware Supreme Court ruled that a proposed merger of Time Incorporated and Warner Communications did not effect a... View Details

Keywords: by Carla Tishler

Andre Meyer

Meyer was a skilled financier, with a great talent at devising and orchestrating mergers and other complex business deals. He engineered Lazard’s purchase of Avis Rent–A-Car... View Details

Keywords: Finance

March 2011
Supplement

Countrywide plc (CW)

By: Stuart C. Gilson and Sarah L. Abbott

One of the world's leading investors in distressed companies, Oaktree Capital Management is contemplating a "loan to own" investment in the debt f Countrywide plc, a financially troubled residential real estate agent based in the U.K. Only sixteen months earlier,... View Details

Keywords: Leveraged Buyouts; Restructuring; Economic Slowdown and Stagnation; Assets; Borrowing and Debt; Private Equity; Insolvency and Bankruptcy; Investment Portfolio; Crisis Management; Strategy; Valuation; Real Estate Industry; United Kingdom

13 Oct 2010
First Look

First Look: October 13, 2010

for Pentax into a hostile cash tender offer. A surprising sequence of events had caused a friendly merger agreement to fall apart, resulting in a boardroom coup at Pentax and the intervention of the Sparx... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

November 2012
Supplement

Shenzhen Development Bank (CW)

By: Yuhai Xuan

Keywords: Mergers and Acquisitions; Private Equity; Commercial Banking; Investment; Emerging Markets; Business and Government Relations; Banking Industry; China

26 Jan 2010
First Look

First Look: Jan. 26

When participation costs are large relative to the volume of traffic an ad platform can offer, an advertiser may forego use of an ad platform that the advertiser otherwise finds profitable. Mergers between ad platforms can increase... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

01 Mar 2014
News

Innovation: Crowdfunding College Costs

model has evolved since its launch. "We used to charge a transaction fee, but moved away from that for strategic reasons," Cordero says. "Now it's simply about customer acquisition and building a community."... View Details

Keywords: Hanna, Julia; Gradsave; crowdfunding; Colleges, Universities, and Professional Schools; Colleges, Universities, and Professional Schools; Colleges, Universities, and Professional Schools

October 1987 (Revised January 1989)
Background Note

Purchasing a Business: The Search Process

Describes the steps necessary to purchase a small to medium size company. Provides an eight-part analytical framework. Issues covered in the framework include the following: the self-assessment, deal criteria, deal sources, resources necessary to purchase a business,... View Details

Keywords: Acquisition; Framework; Resource Allocation; Negotiation Deal; Business Processes; Valuation