Publications

October 2019
Case

Impax Laboratories: Executing Accretive Acquisitions (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; Competition; Competitive Advantage; Corporate Strategy; Pharmaceutical Industry; United States

October 2012
Teaching Plan

Vertex Pharmaceuticals and the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation: Venture Philanthropy Funding for Biotech (TP)

By: Robert F. Higgins

This is the teaching note related to HBS case 808005. In 2001, Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated acquired the San Diego-based biotech company, Aurora Biosciences. The combination of Vertex's and Aurora's technologies would improve the flow of novel drug candidates... View Details

Keywords: Venture Philanthropy; Biotechnology; Funding Philanthropy Venture; Cystic Fibrosis; Foundations; Pharmaceuticals; Mergers and Acquisitions; For-Profit Firms; Venture Capital; Philanthropy and Charitable Giving; Science-Based Business; Nonprofit Organizations; Pharmaceutical Industry; Biotechnology Industry; United States; San Diego

Article

Investor Activism and Takeovers

By: Robin Greenwood and Michael Schor

Recent work documents large positive abnormal returns around the time that a hedge fund announces its activist intentions with a publicly listed firm. We show that these returns are largely explained by the ability of activists to force target firms into a takeover: In... View Details

Keywords: Mergers and Acquisitions; Private Equity; Investment Return; Investment Activism; Investment Portfolio; Public Ownership

2007
Working Paper

Hedge Fund Investor Activism and Takeovers

By: Robin Greenwood and Michael Schor

We examine long-horizon stock returns around hedge fund activism in a comprehensive sample of 13D filings by portfolio investors between 1993 and 2006. Abnormal returns surrounding investor activism are high for the subset of targets that are... View Details

Keywords: Mergers and Acquisitions; Private Equity; Investment Return; Investment Activism; Investment Portfolio; Corporate Governance

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February 2003 (Revised January 2006)
Case

AIT Group Plc

By: G. Felda Hardymon, Josh Lerner and Ann Leamon

A U.S. venture capital firm has just learned that the deal structure for purchasing an illiquid U.K. software firm is unacceptable to institutional investors. The group must decide if it still wants to go through with the deal. This decision hinges on whether the... View Details

Keywords: Price; Business and Stakeholder Relations; Mergers and Acquisitions; Venture Capital; Financial Condition; Risk and Uncertainty; Decision Making; Financial Services Industry; United States; United Kingdom

Research Links: Photographs - Railroads and the Transformation of Capitalism | Harvard Business School

Railroads Finance Management Business Analysts Mass Distribution Mergers & Syndicates Research Links Railroad Records Photographs Research Collections Secondary Sources Related Sites Research Links: Photographs Henry Villard Business... View Details

February 2011 (Revised February 2018)
Case

Greg Mazur and the Purchase of Great Eastern Premium Pet Foods

By: Richard S. Ruback and Royce Yudkoff

Greg Mazur decided to purchase a small business after graduating from the Harvard Business School. The case explores his decision about whether or not he should finalize his deal to purchase Great Eastern Premium Pet Foods, Inc. ("GEPP"). It gives students the... View Details

Keywords: Mergers and Acquisitions; Entrepreneurship; Financing and Loans; Negotiation Deal; Negotiation Preparation; Strategic Planning; Valuation

2004
Book

R&D Meets M&A: Proceedings of the 2003 Conference on Innovation and Creativity in Chemical R&D

By: Arthur A. Daemmrich

Keywords: Research and Development; Mergers and Acquisitions; Conferences; Innovation and Invention; Creativity; Science

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April 1990 (Revised December 1995)
Case

SouthPark IV

By: William J. Poorvu

A young entrepreneur examines an 80,000 square foot office/warehouse building as a potential acquisition. The building is currently fully leased but all four leases will expire shortly. Due to changing market conditions, the protagonist has to look at current market... View Details

Keywords: Mergers and Acquisitions; Valuation; Property; Management Analysis, Tools, and Techniques; Leasing; Cash Flow; Real Estate Industry

15 Jan 2020
News

The Business of Access

position at San Mateo–based Shelter Network, which needed her skills to research and implement its merger with another homelessness service provider, InnVision, in Santa Clara. InnVision’s business model was to charge homeless people for... View Details

Keywords: Maureen Harmon

26 Jan 2010
First Look

First Look: Jan. 26

When participation costs are large relative to the volume of traffic an ad platform can offer, an advertiser may forego use of an ad platform that the advertiser otherwise finds profitable. Mergers between ad platforms can increase... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

21 Dec 2009
Research & Ideas

Good Banks, Bad Banks, and Government’s Role as Fixer

broad-based government guarantees to one with market discipline exerted by sophisticated and at-risk investors in bank debt. The federal government should not be encouraging mergers among large institutions in the financial sector, which... View Details

Keywords: by Roger Thompson; Banking; Financial Services

September 2015 (Revised February 2023)
Case

Emdeon's Acquisition of Change Healthcare: Innovating Transparency Solutions for Health Care Consumers

By: Regina E. Herzlinger, Jeet Guram and Aanchal Raj

Case describes acquisition of Change Healthcare, which provides health care cost and quality information, by Emdeon, a health information exchange, and discusses health care transparency. Emdeon is a billion-dollar company that has grown through acquisitions; at its... View Details

Keywords: Healthcare; Healthcare Industry; Healthcare Innovation; Health Care and Treatment; Acquisition; Integration; Analytics and Data Science; Mergers and Acquisitions; Competitive Strategy; Health Industry; United States

December 2011 (Revised June 2013)
Case

Bananas (A)

By: Eric Van den Steen

As owner and CEO, Wim Van der Borght had grown Bananas in 8 years from a 4.5 million euro company into a 40 million euro group of companies with a range of field marketing activities in Belgium and the Netherlands. The core of the group consisted of two companies —... View Details

Keywords: Sustainable Competitive Advantage; Growth Strategy; Strategic Analysis; PVA; Culture As Commitment; Competitive Advantage; Organizational Culture; Growth and Development Strategy; Competitive Strategy; Mergers and Acquisitions; Strategy; Corporate Strategy; Belgium

June 2010
Case

The Shaw Group Inc.: Entrepreneurial Innovation

By: Lynda M. Applegate and Edward Watson

The case describes the founding and evolution of the Shaw Group through acquisition. The case is set at the time that the company is redesigning its business processes, organization, and information technology infrastructure to support aggressive growth and increased... View Details

Keywords: Mergers and Acquisitions; Entrepreneurship; Innovation and Invention; Leadership; Growth and Development Strategy; Infrastructure; Business Processes; Organizational Design; Information Technology

Find at Harvard

September 1997 (Revised May 1999)
Case

Automated Intelligence Corporation

By: James K. Sebenius and David T. Kotchen

Precision Controls is a Minnesota-based manufacturer of electronic control devices. To enhance its product line, Precision would like to establish an artificial intelligence research group, either through internal development or, preferably, by merging with or... View Details

Keywords: Information Technology; Valuation; Research and Development; Stock Shares; Negotiation Process; Negotiation Tactics; Mergers and Acquisitions; Manufacturing Industry; Electronics Industry; Minnesota