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; Consumer Products Industry; Food and Beverage Industry

27 Apr 2010
First Look

First Look: April 27

firm performed extraordinarily well after a leveraged buyout in 2004 and recently executed a highly successful IPO. The company sources its goods primarily from Asia. It has strong brand recognition and... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

18 Apr 2018
First Look

First Look at New Research and Ideas, April 18, 2018

the industry and in China. Purchase this case: https://cb.hbsp.harvard.edu/cbmp/product/909403 Harvard Business School Case 216-052 Bankruptcy at Caesars Entertainment Caesars Entertainment was a large casino operator in the United States that had been purchased in a... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

14 Jun 2004
Research & Ideas

The Big Money for Big Projects

capital structure, board of directors, compensation schemes, etc.—which may or may not be appropriate for any particular asset, the firm can create an entirely different governance system that is ideally suited for the asset in question. Much the same way View Details

Keywords: by Ann Cullen; Financial Services

20 Aug 2012
Research & Ideas

The Acquirers

M&A research examined topics such as how structured credit impacted the buyout boom and bidding strategies of private equity firms, little focus had been placed on the competition between acquiring companies themselves. In earlier... View Details

Keywords: by Kim Girard; Financial Services

March 1993
Case

Clarion Optical Co.

By: Michael J. Roberts and Howard H. Stevenson

Focuses on two individuals' attempts to purchase Clarion Optical Co. Forces students to consider alternative proposals for financing the purchase; generate pro forma cash flows to assess the feasibility of these proposals; estimate the sources and magnitude of... View Details

Keywords: Leveraged Buyouts; Financing and Loans; Investment Return; Cash Flow; Forecasting and Prediction

05 Apr 2016
Blog Post

Summer Internships in the JD/MBA Program

also with a team of lawyers specializing in transactional and real estate law. To compete at this level, I realized I would need a more in-depth understanding of both sides of the equation: taxes, regulatory issues, the distinctions... View Details

July 1996 (Revised January 1997)
Case

Northwest Airlines: Brush with Bankruptcy (A)--November 1992

By: Leonard A. Schlesinger and Davis Dyer

Deals with Northwest's financial crisis between the fall of 1992 and the following spring. Northwest's leaders face the problem of how to meet an impending $600 million payment on the 1989 LBO loan when the airline had run out of cash. Concludes by outlining options... View Details

Keywords: Air Transportation; Restructuring; Leveraged Buyouts; Crisis Management; Insolvency and Bankruptcy; Financial Strategy; Financial Crisis; Air Transportation Industry; United States

Find at Harvard

25 Aug 2022
News

Full Stream Ahead

long-dated liabilities and need to deploy cash continuously, Soares says. “The appetite for ever-larger buyout transactions from those mega funds trickled into the music industry also.” Those trends collided... View Details

Keywords: Jen McFarland Flint; Performing Arts, Spectator Sports, and Related Industries; Arts, Entertainment

Fast Answer

Mergers & Acquisitions: deal type

How can I find deals of specific types, such as spinoffs or LBOs? Capital IQ Select Screening and click Transactions In section, General Transaction Details (on the right) select features. Select from the available types,... View Details

March 2021 (Revised January 2022)
Case

Revlon: Surviving Covid-19

By: Kristin Mugford and Sarah Gulick

In October 2020, Revlon faced a crossroads. While it had been struggling with high levels of debt before COVID-19, the pandemic had caused it to go further into debt. Unlike other financial crises, many consumers had stopped buying skincare or cosmetics, and sales of... View Details

Keywords: COVID-19 Pandemic; Leveraged Buyouts; Insolvency and Bankruptcy; Financial Liquidity; Bonds; Corporate Finance; Borrowing and Debt; Beauty and Cosmetics Industry; Financial Services Industry; United States

25 Mar 2014
First Look

First Look: March 25

Harvard Business School Case 214-027 ISS A/S: The Buyout Provides the opportunity to value a leveraged buy-out and to examine the nature and extent of a company's responsibilities to its bondholders. Here,... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

06 Feb 2023
Blog Post

Meet the Black Investment Club

co-founded a Southern-Africa focused VC firm, Zenga Ventures. At HBS, Akapelwa is able to share his experience both as an entrepreneur and as an investor. Over the course of his career to date, Akapelwa has participated in closed View Details

Keywords: Private Equity; Venture Capital; Investment Management / Hedge Fund

December 2002 (Revised June 2003)
Case

Vignette: The Rebar Dilemma

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

Martin Smith, a new associate at an LBO firm, must respond to a problem posed by his boss, based on an historical deal that suddenly came undone. After months of negotiation, his firm's plan to buy a bankrupt competitor of one of its portfolio companies and close it... View Details

Keywords: Leveraged Buyouts; Insolvency and Bankruptcy; Competition; Growth and Development Strategy; Business or Company Management

December 1990 (Revised February 2000)
Supplement

Wisconsin Central Ltd. Railroad and Berkshire Partners, Video

By: Michael C. Jensen and Brian Barry

Edward Burkhardt, president and CEO of Wisconsin Central, and Carl Freebback, general partner of Berkshire Partners, engage in a question and answer session with the students. View Details

Keywords: Financial Management; Governing and Advisory Boards; Leveraged Buyouts; Financial Condition; Financing and Loans; Corporate Finance; Rail Industry