Publications

February 1997 (Revised August 2016)
Case

Stone Container Corporation (A)

By: W. Carl Kester and Kirk Goldman

In early 1993, Stone Container was heavily burdened by debt following a series of highly leveraged acquisitions. A prolonged depression in paper prices necessitated the development of a comprehensive financial plan to relieve the financial pressures on Stone. Among the... View Details

Keywords: Leveraged Buyouts; Borrowing and Debt; Capital Structure; Equity; Price; Strategic Planning

01 Jan 2002
News

Orin C. Smith (MBA '67)

$3.2 billion. At the helm throughout this dizzying period of expansion have been Howard Schultz, who led a buyout of the original company in 1987, and his longtime colleague Orin Smith, a soft-spoken native of Washington State. "I don't... View Details

26 Oct 2017
News

Can Farming Save the Planet?

the world of finance. He became one of the people brought in after leveraged buyouts to save failing companies. During Wiviott’s time as COO for one of those companies, Quality Trailer Products, he doubled the annual sales to $50 million... View Details

Keywords: Constantine von Hoffman; Organic farming; Support Activities for Agriculture and Forestry; Agriculture

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

November 2005 (Revised October 2012)
Case

The Auction for Burger King (A)

By: Carliss Y. Baldwin and James Quinn

Paul Walsh, CEO of Diageo, must evaluate bids received in an auction of the Burger King restaurant unit. Describes how Diageo came to own Burger King, the attempts to turn the unit around, the strategic reasons for its sale, the auction process, and various bidders'... View Details

Keywords: Management Teams; Leveraged Buyouts; Bids and Bidding; Valuation; Auctions; Decision Choices and Conditions; Negotiation Tactics; Service Industry; Food and Beverage Industry

23 Nov 1999
Research & Ideas

The Future of the Venture Capital Cycle

financial product. The supply of venture capital is also likely to continue growing. Within the past two years, numerous pension funds have invested in private equity for the first time. Many experienced investors have also decided to increase their allocations to... View Details

Keywords: by Paul A. Gompers & Josh Lerner; Financial Services

10 Jul 2000
Research & Ideas

Entrepreneurship in Europe

buyout side and the early venture capital side in Europe, said Kuemmerle. Europe, Asia and Latin America still lag behind the U.S., he said, but "the hunt for the best entrepreneurial teams is still on, so I encourage everybody who... View Details

Keywords: by Kenneth Liss

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

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

July 2001
Technical Note

Technical Note on LBO Valuation (B): The Equity Cash Flow Method of Valuation using CAPM

By: Carliss Y. Baldwin

Explains the equity cash flow method of valuation as it applies to leveraged buyouts. Also explains how to implement the changing cost of equity method using the CAPM. View Details

Keywords: Leveraged Buyouts; Forecasting and Prediction; Cash Flow; Cost of Capital; Equity; Valuation

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

August 2006 (Revised February 2009)
Case

Medco Energi Internasional

In late 2004, Hilmi Panigoro, CEO of the publicly traded Indonesian oil company Medco Energi Internasional, is striving to regain majority control of the company his brother Arifin founded in 1980. The Asian financial crisis of 1999 led to a major restructuring that... View Details

Keywords: Leveraged Buyouts; Family Business; Restructuring; Financing and Loans; Ownership Stake; Business and Shareholder Relations; Indonesia; Singapore

April 2021
Supplement

Exercise for Revlon: Surviving Covid-19

By: Kristin Mugford and Sarah Gulick

Exercise for Revlon: Surviving Covid-19 View Details

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

01 Oct 2000
News

Q & A: Bain & Company's Thomas J. Tierney

called eVolution with venture capital firm Kleiner Perkins and buyout specialists Texas Pacific Group. This new partnership focuses on traditional corporations that are interested in spinning off new Internet businesses. And we've... View Details

Keywords: Peter K. Jacobs; Management, Scientific, and Technical Consulting Services; Professional Services

19 Jun 2023
Blog Post

The Road to Impact

2008 financial crisis, it became clear that the organization’s revenue would be in decline. In response, NYPL reduced its head count from around 2,400 people to 1,750 over the course of five years, without any layoffs, through attrition and retirement View Details

20 Nov 2007
First Look

First Look: November 20, 2007

Burton had to assess the plans from a global perspective. Purchase this case: http://www.hbsp.harvard.edu/b01/en/common/item_detail.jhtml?id=508009 The Hertz Corporation (A) Harvard Business School Case 208-030 Examines the leveraged View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

01 Sep 2005
News

Making History, Starting Over

“it was extremely difficult to make a profit on early-stage investments,” says Cohen. In 1989, he opted for a “balanced” strategy, adding corporate buyouts to the firm’s early-stage investments. It’s a strategy that distinguishes Apax... View Details

Keywords: Roger Thompson; Finance

April 1991 (Revised July 1991)
Supplement

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

By: Jay W. Lorsch

The special committee of the RJR Nabisco board has extended the bidding deadline for the company by 10 days. The case explains the process by which Kohlberg Kravis Roberts and the management group bid against one another for ownership of RJR Nabisco. The board of... 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