Publications

March 2005 (Revised January 2009)
Case

Wabash Music, Inc.

By: Timothy A. Luehrman

Wabash Music, Inc. is contemplating an acquisition outside its core music business as a way of diversifying and developing cash for unexpected commercial success. View Details

Keywords: Mergers and Acquisitions; Music Entertainment; Cash; Diversification

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January 1992 (Revised March 2006)
Case

Chris Hackett and Val Rayzman have spent six months after graduating from business school exploring the possibility of building a chain of upscale drycleaners. This fragmented industry looked ripe for an innovative new entrant. Chris and Val have researched the... View Details

Keywords: Strategic Planning; Market Entry and Exit; Entrepreneurship; Acquisition; Service Industry

September 2000
Case

MCI-WorldCom Combination, The (A)

By: Paul M. Healy and Jacob Cohen

Outlines the accounting decision faced by WorldCom in its acquisition of MCI. Two methods are discussed (purchase and pooling) and students are asked to evaluate which would be more suitable for WorldCom. View Details

Keywords: Mergers and Acquisitions; Accounting; Telecommunications Industry

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August 2000 (Revised August 2003)
Case

Cox Communications, Inc., 1999

This case focuses on how much external financing a firm needs and what securities the firm should issue to raise this financing. Cox Communications is a major player in the cable industry, which is consolidating due to technological changes/capabilities brought about... View Details

Keywords: Change Management; Decision Choices and Conditions; Financing and Loans; Telecommunications Industry

October 2019
Supplement

Impax Laboratories: Executing Accretive Transactions (A)

By: Benjamin C. Esty and Daniel Fisher

Impax Laboratories was a technology-based pharmaceutical company that used a “dual platform” strategy to sell both generic and branded treatments. While Impax had grown organically for most of its history, it was beginning to use major acquisitions for growth. In the... View Details

Keywords: Financial Reporting; Financial Statements; Mergers and Acquisitions; Capital Structure; Financial Strategy; Competition; Competitive Advantage; Corporate Strategy; Pharmaceutical Industry; United States

05 Jul 2010
News

Tech customers question industry's takeover spree

April 1989 (Revised October 2005)
Case

James Burke: A Career in American Business (A)

By: Richard S. Tedlow and Wendy Smith

Presents an historical overview of the professional career of James E. Burke, chairman and CEO of Johnson & Johnson. Examines the corporation's handling of three major occurrences--the Tylenol poisonings in 1982 and 1986 and the acquisition and subsequent sale of... View Details

Keywords: Business History; Marketing Strategy; Ethics; Personal Development and Career; Crisis Management; Consumer Products Industry; Health Industry; United States

November 2011 (Revised December 2012)
Case

Rent the Runway

By: Thomas R. Eisenmann and Laura Winig

Two months after a successful launch in November 2009, the cofounders of Rent the Runway (RTR), a website that rented designer dresses, are debating whether to grow their startup at a measured pace and focus on improving operational effectiveness, or raise a new round... View Details

Keywords: Lean Startup; Electronic Commerce; Fashion; Expansion; Business Startups; Growth and Development Strategy; E-commerce; Fashion Industry

June 2016
Teaching Note

$19B 4 txt app WhatsApp...omg!

By: David J. Collis

Teaching note for HBS No. 715-441 on Facebook's $22 billion acquisition of WhatsApp. View Details

Keywords: Entrepreneurship; Finance; Management; Strategy; Communications Industry; Computer Industry; Information Industry; Information Technology Industry; Web Services Industry; Telecommunications Industry

October 1999 (Revised November 1999)
Case

VITAS: Innovative Hospice Care

VITAS, a for-profit hospice, has grown through acquisitions and start-ups. The company considers a rollup strategy, and Deirdre Lawe must decide whether to make a particular acquisition. View Details

Keywords: Value Creation; For-Profit Firms; Service Delivery; Health Care and Treatment; Acquisition; Service Industry

November 2008 (Revised November 2024)
Case

Tottenham Hotspur plc

By: Lauren H. Cohen, Joshua D. Coval and Christopher J. Malloy

Tottenham Hotspur Football Club is a publicly-owned professional soccer team based in London, England. The club's chairman, Daniel Levy, is contemplating a significant investment in physical assets, including the development of a new stadium as well as the acquisition... View Details

Keywords: Valuation; Capital Budgeting; Decision Making; Competency and Skills; Cash Flow; Investment; Buildings and Facilities; Sports; Investment Portfolio; Financial Strategy; Sports Industry; London

October 2007 (Revised February 2008)
Background Note

Evaluating M&A Deals: Accretion vs. Dilution of Earnings-per-share

By: Carliss Y. Baldwin

When discussing the pros and cons of an acquisition, practitioners often talk about the impact of the deal on the buyer's earnings-per-share (eps). An acquisition is said to be "accretive" if the buyer's eps goes up post-deal; it is "dilutive" if the buyer's eps goes... View Details

Keywords: Business Earnings; Mergers and Acquisitions; Private Equity; Negotiation Deal

December 2012 (Revised January 2015)
Technical Note

Early Career LBOs Using the Search Fund Model

By: Howard Stevenson, Michael Roberts and Jim Sharpe

The funded search model is one alternative for individuals who, at some point in their career, want to run their own companies. This note looks at the funded search, as a means to entrepreneurship through acquisition and describes the path to buy and run a business... View Details

Keywords: Search Funds; Search; Entrepreneurial Finance; Investor Behavior; Career Planning; Entrepreneurial Management; Fundraising; Negotiation; Entrepreneurship; Capital Structure; Borrowing and Debt; Personal Development and Career; Private Ownership; Acquisition; Finance; Leveraged Buyouts

May 1993 (Revised June 1993)
Case

Friendly Cards, Inc.

By: William E. Fruhan Jr.

Involves analysis of a major capital investment proposal, an acquisition of another company, an estimate of the funds required for these two possible outlays, and a recommended course of management action. View Details

Keywords: Mergers and Acquisitions; Capital; Capital Budgeting; Investment

May 2008 (Revised June 2009)
Case

House of Tata: Acquiring a Global Footprint

By: Tarun Khanna, Krishna G. Palepu and Richard Bullock

Chronicles the globalization of the Tata Group, one of India's largest business groups. Since 2000, many Tata Group operating companies have aggressively built international businesses, particularly through overseas acquisitions. After describing the globalization... View Details

Keywords: Mergers and Acquisitions; Developing Countries and Economies; Globalized Firms and Management; Growth and Development Strategy; India; United States

March 1991 (Revised December 1994)
Case

Marks and Spencer Ltd. (B)

By: Cynthia A. Montgomery

Describes the firm's 1988 expansion into the United States through the acquisition of Brooks Brothers, a specialty up-market men's clothing chain and Kings Super Markets, a high quality New Jersey grocer. View Details

Keywords: Growth and Development Strategy; Expansion; Business Strategy; Mergers and Acquisitions; Globalization; Retail Industry; United States

May 2010 (Revised July 2010)
Case

Bank of America Acquires Merrill Lynch (A)

By: Robert C. Pozen and Charles E. Beresford

On December 22, 2008, Bank of America (BofA) chairman and CEO Ken Lewis convened a special board of directors meeting to review his company's pending acquisition of investment bank Merrill Lynch. Negotiations for the acquisition had begun a few months earlier, during... View Details

Keywords: Mergers and Acquisitions; Decision Choices and Conditions; Financial Crisis; Corporate Governance; Government Legislation; Crisis Management; Business and Government Relations; Banking Industry

June 2013
Supplement

Hexcel Turnaround—2001 (Video Supplement)

This is the Video Supplement for Hexcel Turnaround - 2001(A), (B) and (C), HBS Cases 806099, 806100, 806101. View Details

June 1995
Case

Strategic Countermoves: Coca-Cola vs. Pepsi

Describes strategic acquisitions by Coca-Cola and Pepsi-Cola in the late 1980s. The context allows students to evaluate the implications of the mergers for the competitiveness of the industry. View Details

Keywords: Competition; Mergers and Acquisitions; Manufacturing Industry; Food and Beverage Industry