Publications

January 2006 (Revised February 2006)
Case

Deutsche Borse and the European Markets

By: Dwight B. Crane and Monika Stachowiak

In December 2004, Deutsche Borse proposed an offer for the London Stock Exchange. Some shareholders opposed the acquisition, leading to the offer's withdrawal and replacement of management, including the CEO and board members. Written from the viewpoint of Deutsche... View Details

Keywords: Mergers and Acquisitions; Strategy; Governing and Advisory Boards; Capital Structure; Stocks; Valuation; Corporate Governance; Price; Change Management; Commercialization; Financial Services Industry; Europe

July 2003 (Revised August 2003)
Case

Global Healthcare Exchange

By: Lynda M. Applegate and Jamie Ladge

Founded in March 2000 at the height of the dot-com bubble, Global Healthcare Exchange (GHX) was one of 90 online marketplaces in the health care industry. The company's founders were among the largest suppliers in the industry, including Johnson & Johnson, GE Medical,... View Details

Keywords: Mergers and Acquisitions; Entrepreneurship; Price; Leadership; Growth and Development Strategy; Supply and Industry; Organizational Design; Expansion; Internet and the Web; Valuation; Health Industry

11 Jun 2013
First Look

First Look: June 11

in 2007. A sizeable portion of the growth can be explained by rising asset management fees, which in turn were driven by increases in the valuation of tradable assets, particularly equity. Another important factor was growth in fees... View Details

Keywords: Carmen Nobel

05 May 2015
First Look

First Look: May 5

outcome, it strongly increases valuation of an ambiguous financial prospect. However, when information supports an unfavorable outcome, it has significantly less impact. We find that two mechanisms drive this asymmetry. First, unfavorable... View Details

Keywords: Carmen Nobel

October 2014
Teaching Note

MuMaté

By: Thomas Eisenmann

This teaching note is designed for use with "MuMaté: Funding Growth," "MuMaté (B-1): Confidential for Maxwell," "MuMaté (B-2): Confidential for Cantor," HBS Nos. 814-063, 813-149, 813-150, to help faculty deepen student comprehension of business issues and energize... View Details

Keywords: Venture Capital; Growth Management; Negotiation; Expansion; Valuation; Entrepreneurship; Organizational Culture; Business Startups; Food and Beverage Industry

October 2008 (Revised September 2011)
Supplement

PepsiCo's Bid for Quaker Oats (B)

By: Carliss Y. Baldwin and Leonid Soudakov

Second in a series on PepsiCo's bid for Quaker Oats. Describes the negotiations between PepsiCo and Quaker including due-diligence process, first bid, and counteroffer. Quaker's counteroffer included a collar on equity consideration, and thus the case offers an... View Details

Keywords: Mergers and Acquisitions; Equity; Bids and Bidding; Negotiation Offer; Negotiation Preparation; Valuation; Food and Beverage Industry

November 2007
Article

The Accidental Entrepreneur: The Emergent and Collective Process of User Entrepreneurship

By: Sonali K. Shah and Mary Tripsas

We develop a process model of how users, an understudied source of entrepreneurship, create, evaluate, share, and commercialize their ideas. We compare and contrast our model to the classic model of the entrepreneurial process, highlighting the emergent and... View Details

Keywords: Entrepreneurship; Valuation; Business Model; Commercialization; Adoption; Adaptation; Product; Civil Society or Community

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July 1984 (Revised September 1986)
Case

CML Group, Inc.: Going Public (A)

By: William A. Sahlman

Describes a series of decisions confronting Charles Leighton, co-founder and chairman of the CML Group. CML is a successful participant in the leisure time industry with two lines of business: specialty retailing and recreational consumer products. The key issues in... View Details

Keywords: Valuation; Going Public; Strategy; Business or Company Management; Cost vs Benefits; SWOT Analysis; Investment Banking; Financing and Loans; Planning; Corporate Finance; Retail Industry; Consumer Products Industry

January 2018
Case

Environmental Technology Fund Partners and E-Leather

By: Vikram S. Gandhi and Aldo Sesia

It is 2014 and Environmental Technologies Fund (ETF) Partners, a UK-based venture capital firm, has an opportunity to invest in a privately held UK company that manufactured engineered composition leather extracted from waste leather using an environmentally friendly... View Details

Keywords: Sustainability; Venture Capital; Investment Strategy; Investment; Strategy; Ownership; Valuation; Energy Conservation; Equity; Technological Innovation; Environmental Sustainability; Performance Efficiency; Manufacturing Industry; Financial Services Industry; United Kingdom

December 1984 (Revised July 2005)
Case

Burnet vs. Logan

By: Henry B. Reiling

The taxpayer sold mining company stocks and was to be paid royalty as ore was extracted from the corporation's mine. Because the factual issues of whether ore would be extracted and, if so, how much and when were so indeterminate, the court held that the contract right... View Details

Keywords: Taxation; Law Enforcement; Asset Management; Valuation; Policy; Mining Industry

January 2017
Supplement

T. Rowe Price and the Dell Inc. MBO (B)

By: Lena G. Goldberg

After deciding to oppose the Dell MBO, T. Rowe Price, together with other dissident Dell shareholders, sought appraisal of their shares in the Delaware courts. The appraisal process resulted in a significant increase in the price to be paid to dissenting shareholders... View Details

Keywords: Fiduciary Duties; Management Buy-out; Ethics; Valuation; Courts and Trials; Business and Shareholder Relations; Restructuring; Financial Services Industry; Computer Industry; Delaware

June 1997
Case

Olympic Financial Ltd.

By: Krishna G. Palepu and Sarayu Srinivasan

Olympic Financial is a sub-prime lender in the auto financing industry. Several other financing companies have been wrought with accounting fraud and business mismanagement. Olympic's debt has been downgraded, and its stock has been denigrated although the company is... View Details

Keywords: Business or Company Management; Crime and Corruption; Valuation; Financial Reporting; Credit; Financial Services Industry

November 2007 (Revised June 2016)
Case

British Land

By: Lucy White

British Land's shares traded below NAV. Laxey investments tried to force British Land into share buybacks and criticized its corporate governance. Laxey voted borrowed shares at the AGM. View Details

Keywords: Stock Shares; Valuation; Property; Investment; Corporate Governance; Real Estate Industry; London

May 2002 (Revised May 2003)
Exercise

Endeca Negotiation, The: Hardy Smith

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

Students play the role of Hardy Smith, one of the founding investors of a venture-backed enterprise software company. In the challenging financing climate of the fall of 2001, he is trying to decide what terms to offer the company as an insider-funded C-round. Presents... View Details

Keywords: Negotiation Process; Negotiation Offer; Management Teams; Venture Capital; Valuation; Software; Information Technology Industry; Web Services Industry

May 2002 (Revised May 2003)
Exercise

Endeca Negotiation, The: Steve Papa

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

Students play the role of Steve Papa, the CEO and founder of a venture-backed enterprise software company. In the challenging financing climate of the fall of 2001, he knows that two different groups are about to submit term sheets for his company's C-round. He is... View Details

Keywords: Negotiation Process; Negotiation Offer; Management Teams; Venture Capital; Valuation; Software; Information Technology Industry; Web Services Industry

August 1998
Case

Record Masters

By: William A. Sahlman, Michael J. Roberts and Laurence E. Katz

Kent Dauten, a former general partner at the Chicago private equity firm of Madison Dearborn Partners, has engaged in a search to personally sponsor a buyout in which he can play an active management role. He has received a selling memorandum for Record Masters, a... View Details

Keywords: Risk and Uncertainty; Leveraged Buyouts; Valuation; Negotiation Deal; Investment