Publications

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March 2016 (Revised October 2018)
Case

Project Deutschland: Unpeeling the Onion of a Distressed Real Estate Portfolio

By: Nori Gerardo Lietz and Ricardo Andrade

James Tallest analyzed the opportunity to invest in a distressed portfolio of high quality properties in Germany by acquiring one or more non-performing loans from Deutschland Bank. While he considers the many aspects of the deal that is about to unfold, he must decide... View Details

Keywords: Real Estate; Distress Investing; Non-performing Loan; Borrowing and Debt; Capital Structure; Private Equity; Negotiation Deal; Valuation; Real Estate Industry; Financial Services Industry; Germany; Europe

May 2016 (Revised August 2019)
Teaching Note

Project Deutschland: Unpeeling the Onion of a Distressed Real Estate Portfolio

By: Nori Gerardo Lietz and Ricardo Andrade

James Tallest analyzed the opportunity to invest in a distressed portfolio of high quality properties in Germany by acquiring one or more non-performing loans from Deutschland Bank. While he considers the many aspects of the deal that is about to unfold, he must decide... View Details

Keywords: Real Estate; Distress Investing; Non-performing Loan; Borrowing and Debt; Capital Structure; Private Equity; Negotiation Deal; Valuation; Real Estate Industry; Financial Services Industry; Germany; Europe

May 2013 (Revised September 2013)
Case

The Kashagan Production Sharing Agreement (PSA)

By: Benjamin C. Esty and Florian Bitsch

When discovered in the 1990s, the Kashagan oil field was the second largest oil field in the world. The project sponsors (equity investors) signed a 40-year production sharing agreement (PSA) with the Kazakh government in 1997, with the expectation the field would... View Details

30 Sep 2002
Research & Ideas

Use the Psychology of Pricing To Keep Customers Returning

month to $350 per month than from an increase in number of months from 36 to 48. This is tough for price-optimization software to pick up. The behavioral aspects of pricing are things that optimization software has difficultly picking up.... View Details

Keywords: by Manda Mahoney

09 Mar 2022
Research & Ideas

War in Ukraine: Soaring Gas Prices and the Return of Stagflation?

are already seeing higher prices at the pump, for one thing—and in some areas, those prices could spike even higher, says Harvard Business School Professor Rawi Abdelal. Abdelal, HBS’s Herbert F. Johnson... View Details

Keywords: by Avery Forman; Energy

15 Feb 2017
Op-Ed

What Africa Can Teach the United States About Funding Infrastructure Projects

could teach the richest nation on earth about how to finance infrastructure. But, there are important lessons in multiple examples of roads, power, ports, and water projects that actually get built, thanks to successful funding models.... View Details

Keywords: by John Macomber; Construction

06 Aug 2018
Research & Ideas

Supersmart Manufacturing Tools are Lowering Prices on TVs, Bulbs, and Solar Panels

commoditized. As consumers, we see this in the ever-decreasing retail selling price of flat panel TVs. The screen sizes get bigger, the resolution moves from HD to Ultra HD to 4K, and the prices keep... View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne; Manufacturing; Electronics

October 2014 (Revised April 2023)
Case

Gilead: Hepatitis C Access Strategy (A)

By: V. Kasturi Rangan, Vikram Rangan and David E. Bloom

Gilead had come up with an innovative drug for Hepatitis C, which affected 180 million people worldwide. The drug was priced at $1,000 a pill for the US market. Gilead had to decide how to price and market the pill in developing countries that bore the brunt of the... View Details

Keywords: Healthcare; Pharmaceuticals; Pricing; Access To Care; Emerging Markets; Health Care and Treatment; Price; Strategy; Ethics; Health Industry; Pharmaceutical Industry

Research Summary

Overview

Professor Santana studies consumer judgment and decision making within the domain of behavioral pricing and the subjective value of money. With respect to behavioral pricing, her current projects are focused on how consumers think, feel, and behave in response to... View Details

Keywords: Judgment And Decision Making; Behavioral Pricing; Consumer Behavior

June 2014 (Revised October 2015)
Case

Molycorp: Financing the Production of Rare Earth Minerals (A)

By: Benjamin C. Esty and E. Scott Mayfield

Molycorp, the western hemisphere's only producer of rare earth minerals, was in the middle of a $1 billion capital expenditure project in its effort to become a vertically integrated supplier of rare earth minerals, oxides, and metals. Yet it had just reported lower... View Details

October 2015
Teaching Note

Molycorp: Financing the Production of Rare Earth Minerals (A)

By: Benjamin C. Esty and E. Scott Mayfield

Molycorp, the western hemisphere's only producer of rare earth minerals, was in the middle of a $1 billion capital expenditure project in its effort to become a vertically integrated supplier of rare earth minerals, oxides, and metals. Yet it had just reported lower... View Details

October 2012 (Revised February 2014)
Case

Keystone XL Pipeline

By: Richard H. K. Vietor

On January 18, 2012, President Obama rejected TransCanada's application for a "national interest" determination to approve construction of the Keystone XL Pipeline. Keystone XL was a 1,700 mile long, 36-inch diameter pipeline to transport 1.1 million barrels a day of... View Details

Keywords: Energy; Petroleum; Environmentalism; United States; Oil Prices; National Security; Environmental Sustainability; Energy Sources; Energy Industry; Canada; United States

September 1998 (Revised March 2002)
Case

Petrolera Zuata, Petrozuata C.A.

By: Benjamin C. Esty and Mathew M Millett

Petrozuata is a proposed $2.5 billion oil-field development project in Venezuela. The case is set in 1997 as the project sponsors, Conoco and PDVSA (Venezuela's national oil company), are planning to meet with various development agencies and rating agencies regarding... View Details

Keywords: Risk Management; Valuation; Project Finance; Capital Markets; Investment; Projects; Mining Industry; Energy Industry; Venezuela

March 2001 (Revised April 2003)
Case

Chase's Strategy for Syndicating the Hong Kong Disneyland Loan (A)

By: Benjamin C. Esty and Michael Kane

In late 1999, the Walt Disney Co. and the Hong Kong government agreed to develop Hong Kong Disneyland, a HK$28 (U.S.$3.6) billion theme park and resort complex planned to open in late 2005. As part of the total financing package, the sponsors decided to raise HK$3.3... View Details

Keywords: Working Capital; Project Finance; Relationships; Financing and Loans; Financial Strategy; Tourism Industry; Hong Kong

January 2001 (Revised May 2010)
Case

BP Amoco (B): Financing Development of the Caspian Oil Fields

By: Benjamin C. Esty and Michael Kane

British Petroleum and Amoco were the two largest members of the Azerbaijan International Oil Consortium (AIOC), an 11-firm consortium that was spending $10 billion to develop oil fields in the Caspian Sea. As of March 1999, AIOC had completed a $1.9 billion development... View Details

Keywords: Investment; Policy; Capital Budgeting; Project Finance; Emerging Markets; Mergers and Acquisitions; Financing and Loans; Financial Strategy; Mining Industry; Energy Industry; United Kingdom; Europe

September 2024
Case

Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners: Leading the Energy Transition

By: John Macomber and Maxwell Nii Laryea

A leading global infrastructure fund debates whether and when to become engaged in the electrolysis and distribution of hydrogen, as part of the hydrogen economy and the global transtion to a net zero energy world. The proposed billion dollar project consists of ... View Details

Keywords: Energy; Infrastructure; Energy Generation; Renewable Energy; Project Finance; Energy Industry; Spain