Publications

June 2000 (Revised March 2002)
Teaching Note

Iridium LLC TN

By: Benjamin C. Esty

Teaching Note for (9-200-039). View Details

Keywords: Financing and Loans; Risk and Uncertainty; Information Technology; Insolvency and Bankruptcy; Financial Strategy; Performance; Valuation; Forecasting and Prediction; Demand and Consumers; Communications Industry

10 Apr 2018
First Look

First Look at New Research, April 10, 2018

electronic car company founded and led by Elon Musk. Wall Street analysts are wildly divided on the future growth prospects for this company, and analysts’ one year share price targets range from $160 to $500. The case explores in detail the View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

11 Dec 2012
First Look

First Look: Dec. 11

reflected in stock prices. Download the paper: https://www.hbs.edu/faculty/Pages/item.aspx?num=43177 Cost of Capital Dynamics Implied by Firm Fundamentals Authors:Lyle, Matthew, and Charles C.Y. Wang Abstract We provide a tractable stock valuation... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

24 Sep 2020
News

The Race for a Vaccine

spent 2019, expanding and advancing its development pipeline. Moderna had five additional vaccines in Phase 1 testing and two more in preclinical development. It was a portfolio that looked promising to investors. In late 2018, the company’s IPO had broken biotech... View Details

Keywords: April White; COVID-19; Scientific Research and Development Services

January 2021 (Revised June 2021)
Supplement

Eaton Corporation: Portfolio Transformation and The Cost of Capital (Abridged)

By: Benjamin C. Esty, E. Scott Mayfield and Daniel Fisher

In 2000, Eaton Corporation was a broadly diversified industrial conglomerate. But its strategy was evolving and its focus was narrowing around “power management” and more recently on “intelligent power,” the use of digitally enabled products and services designed to... View Details

Keywords: Mergers and Acquisitions; Business Conglomerates; Business Divisions; Cost of Capital; Corporate Finance; Value; Valuation; Industrial Products Industry; United States; Denmark; Republic of Ireland

July 2021
Teaching Note

Eaton Corporation: Portfolio Transformation and the Cost of Capital

By: Benjamin C. Esty, E. Scott Mayfield and Daniel Fisher

Teaching Note for HBS Case Nos. 221-006 and 221-070. View Details

Keywords: Mergers and Acquisitions; Business Conglomerates; Business Divisions; Cost of Capital; Corporate Finance; Value; Valuation; Industrial Products Industry; United States; Denmark; Republic of Ireland

October 2009
Case

A Big (Double) Deal: Anadarko's Acquisition of Kerr-McGee and Western Gas Resources

By: Clayton M. Christensen and Curtis Rising

On June 23, 2006, Anadarko Petroleum Corporation announced that it was simultaneously acquiring two public companies, Kerr-McGee and Western Gas Resources, in all-cash deals. The total price was about $24 billion, a figure close to Anadarko's market cap at the time.... View Details

Keywords: Acquisition; Business Model; Transformation; Negotiation; Organizational Culture; Public Ownership; Business and Shareholder Relations; Alignment; Valuation; Energy Industry; United States

November 2005 (Revised October 2012)
Case

The Auction for Burger King (A)

By: Carliss Y. Baldwin and James Quinn

Paul Walsh, CEO of Diageo, must evaluate bids received in an auction of the Burger King restaurant unit. Describes how Diageo came to own Burger King, the attempts to turn the unit around, the strategic reasons for its sale, the auction process, and various bidders'... View Details

Keywords: Management Teams; Leveraged Buyouts; Bids and Bidding; Valuation; Auctions; Decision Choices and Conditions; Negotiation Tactics; Service Industry; Food and Beverage Industry

November 2003
Case

Procter & Gamble 2000 (B)

By: William A. Sahlman and Ryland Matthew Willis

Supplements the (A) case. View Details

Keywords: Valuation; Innovation and Management; Corporate Entrepreneurship; Mergers and Acquisitions; Product Launch; Corporate Finance; Retail Industry

19 May 2014
Research & Ideas

Why Companies Should Compete for Your Privacy

valuations, those less willing to pay to avoid disclosure. Microsoft attracts high-valuation consumers. Which of these two strategies yields highest profits depends on how consumer valuations compare to disclosure revenues, that is, on... View Details

Keywords: by Dina Gerdeman; Consumer Products

11 Aug 2009
First Look

First Look: August 11, 2009

Value: An Examination of Equity Betas and Bid-Ask Spreads Authors:Edward J. Riedl and George Serafeim Abstract Finance theory suggests that information risk—that is, the uncertainty regarding valuation parameters for an underlying... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

15 Apr 2008
First Look

First Look: April 15, 2008

business environment or used along with any individual case. Purchase this note: http://www.hbsp.harvard.edu/b01/en/common/item_detail.jhtml?id=308063 Corrections Corp. of America Harvard Business School Case 107-071 This case illustrates a comprehensive View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

January 2025
Case

Apax Partners: Deciding Whether to Bid for Trader Corp.

By: Benjamin C. Esty and Edward A. Meyer

Apax Partners’ investment committee was schedule to meet on March 21, 2011, to decide whether to invest in Trader Corporation, a Canadian classified advertising business for used automobiles with both print (magazines) and digital (website) distribution. What made this... View Details

May 2009
Teaching Note

Nextel Partners: Put Option (TN)

By: Timothy A. Luehrman

Teaching Note for [207-128] View Details

Keywords: Business and Shareholder Relations; Voting; Price; Public Ownership; Valuation; Financial Liquidity; Stock Options; Management Practices and Processes; Telecommunications Industry

November 2020
Supplement

Valuing Celgene's CVR

By: Benjamin C. Esty and Daniel Fisher

When Bristol-Myers Squibb (BMS) acquired Celgene Corporation in November 2019, Celgene shareholders received cash, BMS stock, and a contingent value right (CVRs) that would pay $9 if the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved three of Celgene’s late stage... View Details

Keywords: Mergers and Acquisitions; Value; Valuation; Judgments; Decision Making; Cash Flow; Financial Instruments; Cognition and Thinking; Pharmaceutical Industry; Biotechnology Industry; United States

November 2005 (Revised October 2012)
Case

The MCI Takeover Battle: Verizon versus Qwest

By: Malcolm P. Baker and James Quinn

MCI's board of directors is considering competing bids from Verizon and Qwest. Qwest, a smaller company with a weaker balance sheet, is offering almost a billion dollars more. But Verizon, one of the largest telecommunications companies in the world, has a history of... View Details

Keywords: Mergers and Acquisitions; Decision Choices and Conditions; Capital Markets; Financial Strategy; Governing and Advisory Boards; Valuation; Telecommunications Industry; United States

May 1999 (Revised September 2003)
Case

Advanced Inhalation Research, Inc.

This case presents a look at the early start-up phase and development of Advanced Inhalation Research (AIR), a company engaged in the development of a new drug-delivery technology. Focuses on the risks, the steps taken to manage it, and the manner in which the company... View Details

Keywords: Technological Innovation; Risk Management; Valuation; Financing and Loans; Health Care and Treatment; Acquisition; Business Startups; Medical Devices and Supplies Industry

September 1997 (Revised May 1999)
Case

Precision Controls, Inc.

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; Negotiation Process; Stock Shares; Negotiation Tactics; Mergers and Acquisitions; Manufacturing Industry; Electronics Industry; Minnesota

Find at Harvard

October 2013 (Revised September 2014)
Case

The TELUS Share Conversion Proposal

By: Lucy White, Benjamin C. Esty and Lisa Mazzanti

On February 21, 2013, TELUS announced a proposal to convert the firm's non-voting shares into voting shares on a one-to-one basis, thereby eliminating the firm's dual class structure. Shareholders were scheduled to vote on the proposal at the firm's annual general... View Details