Publications

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July 2021
Case

Bessemer Venture Partners: Century Fund

By: Jo Tango and Alys Ferragamo

In July of 2021, Bessemer Venture Partners (BVP) contemplated the future of its growth investing practice, known as “Century.” While still relatively new as a focused initiative, BVP’s growth investing already had significant momentum. The fund’s investment pace had... View Details

Keywords: Leveraged Buyouts; Financial Institutions; Growth and Development Strategy; Investment Banking; Competitive Strategy; Public Sector; Venture Capital; Private Equity; Acquisition

September 1992 (Revised March 1993)
Case

Empresas ICA and the Mexican Road Privatization Program

By: Willis M. Emmons III and Monica Brand

Mexico's largest construction company, Empresas ICA, makes an initial public offering to international equity investors in April 1992 to help fund its participation in an ambitious new private-sector approach to highway development. Under the new program, launched by... View Details

Keywords: Construction; Transportation Networks; Infrastructure; Privatization; Private Equity; Investment; Initial Public Offering; Private Sector; Government and Politics; Policy; Construction Industry; Mexico

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March 2022 (Revised August 2022)
Case

Swvl: Smart Mobility for the Masses

By: Krishna Palepu, Esel Çekin and Menna Hassan

The case focuses on strategy and governance issues at Swvl, a tech-enabled mass mobility marketplace. It describes the journey of CEO and Chairman Mostafa Kandil on his journey from founding the company to its listing on Nasdaq. Since its founding in Egypt in 2017,... View Details

Keywords: Corporate Governance; Growth and Development Strategy; Initial Public Offering; Innovation and Invention; Business Startups; Transportation Industry; Technology Industry; Middle East; North Africa

January 2010 (Revised March 2010)
Supplement

The Congressional Oversight Panel's Valuation of the TARP Warrants (B)

By: Carliss Y. Baldwin

The Congressional Oversight Panel wants to value the warrants issued to the government in connection with the TARP investments of 2008, in order to increase the transparency of options repurchases. The case describes the methodology used to value the warrants. This... View Details

Keywords: Financial Crisis; Investment; Public Opinion; Valuation; Public Administration Industry; Public Administration Industry; United States

February 1987 (Revised March 2006)
Case

Arley Merchandise Corporation

By: William E. Fruhan Jr.

Involves the initial public offering of a firm's stock. The offering includes a money-back guarantee to investors from the issuing firm which comes in the form of a "put" option. Option valuation is thus an important issue in this case. View Details

Keywords: Initial Public Offering; Stocks; Cases; Valuation; Stock Options; Apparel and Accessories Industry; Service Industry

2024
Working Paper

The Rise of Alternatives

By: Juliane Begenau, Pauline Liang and Emil Siriwardane

Since the 2000s, U.S. public pensions have shifted their risky investments towards alternative assets like private equity and hedge funds, some more aggressively than others. We explore several explanations for these cross-sectional trends, focusing on those implied by... View Details

Keywords: Investment Funds; Investment Return; Risk and Uncertainty

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Das Narayandas is the Edsel Bryant Ford Professor of Business Administration at the Harvard Business School. His academic credentials include a Bachelor of Technology degree in Engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay (IITB), a Post-Graduate... View Details

Keywords: advertising; beauty products; biotechnology; computer; electrical equipment; electronics; entertainment; federal government; high technology; industrial goods; information technology industry; internet; management consulting; manufacturing; marketing industry; professional services; retailing; telecommunications; transportation

March 2023 (Revised May 2025)
Case

On

By: Ramon Casadesus-Masanell, Karolin Frankenberger and Sascha Mader

Founded in 2010, in just one decade, the Swiss company On had established itself as a main player in global sports footwear and apparel. Based on an unconventional strategy which one of the founders labeled as “obsessively distinct,” On grew its sales with a compound... View Details

January 2022
Article

Replicating Private Equity with Value Investing, Homemade Leverage, and Hold-to-Maturity Accounting

By: Erik Stafford

The contributions of asset selection and incremental leverage to buyout investment performance are more important than typically assumed or estimated to be. Buyout funds select small firms with distinct value characteristics. Public equities with these characteristics... View Details

Keywords: Replicating Portfolio; Private Equity; Investment Portfolio

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October 2016 (Revised October 2017)
Case

Misaki Capital and Sangetsu Corporation

By: Ian Gow, Charles C.Y. Wang, Naoko Jinjo and Nobuo Sato

Japan’s corporate culture has traditionally prioritized the interests of stakeholders such as customers, employees, and suppliers over those of shareholders. After a decades-long economic slump, Japan’s government has revitalized efforts to improve corporate governance... View Details

Keywords: Activist Investing; Constructivist Investing; Japan; Valuation; Stock Screens; Return On Equity; Investment; Business and Stakeholder Relations; Corporate Governance; Financial Strategy; Business and Shareholder Relations; Japan

10 Nov 2014
Working Paper Summaries

Crony Capitalism, American Style: What Are We Talking About Here?

Keywords: by Malcolm S. Salter

September 2001 (Revised December 2003)
Case

Eskimo Pie Corporation (Abridged)

By: Richard S. Ruback

In early 1991, Reynolds Metals, the makers of aluminum products, decided to sell its holding of Eskimo Pie, a marketer of branded frozen novelties. Reynolds had an offer from Nestle to acquire Eskimo Pie. However, Reynolds decided instead to make an initial public... View Details

Keywords: Food; Initial Public Offering; Cost of Capital; Valuation; Business Divisions; Brands and Branding; Food and Beverage Industry