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December 2005 (Revised November 2006)
Case

Corning, 2002

By: Malcolm P. Baker and James Quinn

Corning, with large investments in fiber optic technology, was hit particularly hard by the collapse of the telecommunications industry in 2001. With over $4 billion in debt, the firm's survival appears to rest on raising additional equity capital. The protagonist is... View Details

Keywords: Financial Strategy; Financial Condition; Financial Instruments; Valuation; Capital; Public Equity; Stock Shares; Business or Company Management; Strategy; Manufacturing Industry; Industrial Products Industry

August 1998
Case

General Motors Corp. (B), The : Financial Policies

By: Peter Tufano

The second in a four-part series, the case details the financial policies and practices at General Motors from 1990 to 1996. This part describes the stated financial policies of the firm, including its approach to capital structure, liability structure, equity... View Details

Keywords: Corporate Finance; Auto Industry; United States

14 Nov 2012
News

Can Huge CEO Golden Parachutes Hurt You?

11 Sep 2020
Video

James Mwangi

James Mwangi, CEO of Kenya’s Equity Bank, which has one of the largest customer bases of any bank in Africa, argues that the lack of financial literacy posed a far bigger challenge to the bank in Kenya than problems of corruption. View Details

January 2001 (Revised May 2001)
Case

Return Logic, Inc. (A)

By: Richard G. Hamermesh and Michele Lutz

Follows three graduating HBS students as they build a business-to-business Internet venture and highlights the challenges they confront in structuring financing terms with venture capitalists. Requires students to carefully read a six-page term sheet to identify which... View Details

Keywords: Venture Capital; Investment Funds; Private Equity; Internet and the Web; Negotiation Deal; Entrepreneurship

30 Oct 2013
News

#Twitterforsale

August 2007
Case

Satelite Distribuidora de Petroleo

By: Lynda M. Applegate and Andrea M.A.F. Minardi

Marcelo Alecrim, the owner of SAT, a gas distribution company in Brazil, envisioned many growth opportunities but lacked financial resources to pursue them. He was approaching an American private equity fund to raise money. Describes Alecrim's challenge in creating SAT... View Details

Keywords: Business Model; Entrepreneurship; Private Equity; Growth and Development Strategy; Emerging Markets; Utilities Industry; Brazil

November 1995 (Revised October 2000)
Case

Acme Investment Trust

By: Josh Lerner

Acme Investment Trust is considering investing in a private equity partnership that is seeking only 15% of the profits, instead of the standard 20%. The management fee requested, however, is higher than in its earlier fund. The pension managers must consider the... View Details

Keywords: Compensation and Benefits; Private Equity; Organizations; Investment Funds; Motivation and Incentives; Financial Services Industry

May 2005 (Revised October 2007)
Case

Founder-CEO Succession at Wily Technology

By: Noam T. Wasserman and Henry McCance

Before he accepts the new CEO position, Dick Williams wants founder Lew Cirne to step down as chairman. While considering Williams' incredible demand, Cirne reflects on everything he has already given up to get Wily Technology to this point. He agreed to step down as... View Details

Keywords: Business Startups; Entrepreneurship; Growth and Development Strategy; Management Succession

September 1995 (Revised May 1998)
Case

RogersCasey Alternative Investments: Innovative Response to the Distribution Challenge

By: Josh Lerner

RogersCasey Alternative Investments faces the challenge of managing distributions of stock by the private equity investors in which their clients have invested. These distributed shares appear to behave in complex ways, apparently at odds with market efficiency. A... View Details

Keywords: Private Equity; Stocks; Financial Strategy; Investment; Innovation Strategy; Management; Distribution; Performance; Behavior

03 Oct 2013
Research & Ideas

Lehman Brothers Plus Five: Have We Learned from Our Mistakes?

system is in better shape. Professors Victoria Ivashina, David Scharfstein, and Arthur Segel, all members of the Harvard Business School Finance Unit, examine the current state of affairs. victoria Ivashina Is the US financial system in... View Details

Keywords: Re: Multiple Faculty; Banking; Financial Services; Construction; Real Estate

06 Mar 2017
News

Harvard Reveals Blueprint for Avoiding Stock Crashes

June 2000 (Revised January 2003)
Case

Nissan Motor Company

By: Thomas R. Piper and Jeremy Cott

Senior executives of Nissan and Renault are considering a major investment in Nissan by Renault. An important consideration is whether a major restructuring of Nissan's operations will be possible, given the value placed on lifetime employment and the impact on... View Details

Keywords: Restructuring; Organizational Culture; Investment; Problems and Challenges; Equity

October 2019
Case

Hony Capital and Jushi Group

By: Josh Lerner, Shai Bernstein and Ann Leamon

Hony Capital, a multi-billion dollar private equity firm based in China, is investing in a subsidiary of Jushi Group, a Chinese company that is one of the world's largest fiberglass producers. The specific project will build a plant in the United States. In this case,... View Details

Keywords: Real Estate; Investing; Fundraising; Manufacturing; Private Equity; Asset Management; Finance; Investment; Venture Capital; China; United States

March 1998
Case

Bumper Acquisition (A1), A: Confidential Information for Thermo-Impact, Inc.

By: James K. Sebenius and David T. Kotchen

Located in Mundelein, IL, Thermo-Impact, Inc. is a rapidly growing, private firm that manufactures automotive bumpers. In 1995, a number of large automotive supply companies and a private equity investment firm offer to buy Thermo-Impact. The cases in this series focus... View Details

Keywords: Private Equity; Valuation; Negotiation Participants; Decision Making; Negotiation Process; Entrepreneurship; Negotiation Offer; Acquisition; Manufacturing Industry; Auto Industry; Illinois

Find at Harvard

July 2001
Technical Note

Technical Note on LBO Valuation (A): LBO Structure and the Target IRR Method of Valuation

By: Carliss Y. Baldwin

Explains the equity cash flow method of valuation as it applies to leveraged buyouts. Also explains: 1) earnings and cash flow forecasts, 2) debt structure and the cash sweep, 3) the cashing out horizon and terminal valuation, and 4) the target IRR method of valuation. View Details

Keywords: Valuation; Leveraged Buyouts; Capital Budgeting; Borrowing and Debt; Cash Flow; Equity; Profit; Price; Forecasting and Prediction

Research Summary

Experiments in Financial Democracy: Corporate Governance and Financial Development in Brazil, 1882-1950 (BOOK)

In my first book manuscript, Experiments in Financial Democracy, I challenge the idea that it was colonial institutions that sent Brazil, a civil law country, down a particular path of corporate governance and finance. Detailed archival research reveals... View Details

August 2007 (Revised February 2008)
Case

Pinnacle Ventures

By: Michael J. Roberts, William A. Sahlman and Elizabeth Kind

Describes a prospective "venture debt" loan to a new venture from the perspective of Patrick Lee, a principal at Pinnacle Ventures. Forces students to grapple with the nature of financial risk in the start-up firm and assess the prospective risks and returns to a... View Details

Keywords: Risk and Uncertainty; Venture Capital; Investment Return; Business Startups; Financial Services Industry

July 2004 (Revised June 2005)
Case

Digitas (A)

By: Jay W. Lorsch and Ashley Robertson

Raises issues about how the nature and function of a board changes as its company moves from ownership by its employees (including the founder) to ownership by a private equity firm, Hellman & Friedman, to public ownership. Teaching Purpose: To consider changes in... View Details

Keywords: Private Equity; Governing and Advisory Boards; Behavior; Organizations; Employee Ownership; Public Ownership