Publications

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July 2017
Case

Centerbridge Partners and Great Wolf Resorts: Buying from a Highly Regarded Competitor

By: Josh Lerner, John D. Dionne and Amram Migdal

The case examines the March 2015 Centerbridge Partners investment decision regarding whether to acquire Great Wolf Resorts, a North American family-oriented indoor water parks and hotel operator, from a private equity (PE) competitor, Apollo Global Management. The case... View Details

Keywords: Private Equity Financing; Commercial Mortgage Backed Securities; CMBS; Secondary Buyouts; Business Ventures; Acquisition; Finance; Borrowing and Debt; Cost; Cost of Capital; Equity; Private Equity; Financial Instruments; Debt Securities; Accommodations Industry; Entertainment and Recreation Industry; Financial Services Industry; North and Central America; United States

April 1991 (Revised June 2001)
Case

Jaguar plc--1989

By: Timothy A. Luehrman and Robert W. Lightfoot

Describes Jaguar's product market problems in 1989, and its attractiveness to GM and Ford as an acquisition target. Students are asked to evaluate the suitability of GM and Ford as business partners for Jaguar, and to determine how much each should be willing to pay to... View Details

Keywords: Acquisition; Markets; Consumer Behavior; Product; Partners and Partnerships; Valuation; Auto Industry

October 2015 (Revised September 2016)
Case

Peru: Economic Miracle or Just a Mirage?

By: Richard H.K. Vietor, Fernando A. D'Alessio and Ricardo M. Pino

After years of rapid growth, Peru's economy had recently slowed. Mineral prices were down and the current President, Humala, had only a year remaining in office before the next election. And he could not run again. While the country had many strengths, especially in... View Details

Keywords: Resources; Internal Security; Politics; Natural Environment; Metals and Minerals; Country; Political Elections; Social Issues; Economic Growth; Tourism Industry; Peru

January 1995 (Revised October 1995)
Case

Schweizerische Maschinenfabrik Zug, A.G.

Schweizerische Maschinenfabrik Zug (SMZ), a 110-year old Swiss machinery firm, faces several issues at the end of 1992. It's not clear whether the company will be able to maintain its traditional price premium in the face of foreign competition. The firm must chart a... View Details

Keywords: Competition; Machinery and Machining; Globalized Markets and Industries; Manufacturing Industry; Switzerland

Find at Harvard

31 Aug 2012
News

From the frontlines of the Assamese exodus

03 Mar 2017
News

Mayo, wings, butter: 'Fake milk' is the latest food fight

06 Dec 2017
Working Paper Summaries

Does Financial Misconduct Affect the Future Compensation of Alumni Managers?

Keywords: by Boris Groysberg, Eric Lin, and George Serafeim

February 2019 (Revised November 2021)
Case

MoviePass

By: Willy Shih

Mitch Lowe, the CEO of MoviePass, was having trouble convincing people of the viability of the company's business model. The company was building a multi-sided platform and was planning to extract value from increasing traffic to movie theaters through a number of... View Details

Keywords: Start-up; Start-up Growth; Start-ups; Business Model Innovation; Business Model; Innovation and Invention; Multi-Sided Platforms; Business Startups; Planning; Motion Pictures and Video Industry; United States

March 2014
Teaching Note

Barclays Bank, 2008

By: Lucy White

In the midst of the financial crisis, Barclays (the world's 4th largest bank by assets) is forced by UK regulators to raise more capital. Should it take up the UK government's offer to invest, or take funding from investors from the Middle East? Students may price the... View Details

Keywords: Government And Business; Option Contract; Corporate Finance; Bank Capital; Bank Regulation; Finance; Banking Industry; Europe; North and Central America

19 Jun 2015
News

Case Study: Can Retailers Win Back Shoppers Who Browse then Buy Online?

14 Oct 2014
News

The Unanticipated Risks of Maximizing Shareholder Value

September 2014 (Revised February 2015)
Case

Pfizer and AstraZeneca: Marketing an Acquisition (A)

By: John A. Quelch and James Weber

In 2014, Pfizer proposed a friendly acquisition of AstraZeneca, but the AstraZeneca board resisted over price and strategy concerns. Was this good for pharmaceutical consumers? Pfizer, like pharmaceutical companies in general, faced difficulties in growing sales due to... View Details

Keywords: Health Care Policy; Mergers And Acquisitions; Marketing; Government Relations; Crisis Management; Decision Making; Growth and Development; Management; Markets; Strategy; Pharmaceutical Industry; United Kingdom; United States

April 2021
Case

Transforming BlackBerry: From Smartphones to Software

By: Ranjay Gulati and Nicole Tempest Keller

On the verge of failure, BlackBerry brought in John Chen as CEO in 2013 to orchestrate a bold turnaround of the company. Once an iconic leader in the smartphone market, BlackBerry was best known for its tactile QWERTY keyboard, strong security, and a focus on business... View Details

Keywords: Pivot; Managing Change; Turnaround; Smartphone; Change Management; Leading Change; Transformation; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Digital Platforms; Change; Information Infrastructure; Applications and Software; Competitive Strategy; Cybersecurity; Technology Industry; Transportation Industry; Canada

Web

Placement - Doctoral

, Gautam Rao , and Katherine B. Coffman Spencer Yongwook Kwon Business Economics, 2023 Placement: Brown University, Department of Economics Dissertation: Essays in Expectations and Asset Prices Advisors: Andrei Shleifer , Samuel G. Hanson... View Details

Research Summary

Does Banks' Corporate Control Benefit Firms?

In this paper we examine the importance of banks' corporate control by investigating the loan policy pricing effect of banks' voting stakes on their borrowers. A sample of loans taken out over the 2000-2003 time period shows that banks charge lower rates on... View Details

October 1995 (Revised June 1996)
Case

ABN-AMRO Holding N.V. and Smit Transformatoren N.V. (A)

By: Peter Tufano

ABN-AMRO, the largest bank in the Netherlands, must decide whether to take any action in regard to the poor performance of Smit Transformatoren, a Dutch transformer manufacturer. ABN-AMRO acted as lead underwriter for the IPO of Smit, and also released a favorable... View Details

Keywords: Initial Public Offering; Capital Markets; Investment Banking; Banking Industry; Financial Services Industry; Netherlands

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

October 2014 (Revised June 2016)
Case

Barclays Bank, 2008

By: Lucy White, Steve Burn-Murdoch and Jerome Lenhardt

In the midst of the financial crisis, Barclays (the world's 4th largest bank by assets) is forced by UK regulators to raise more capital. Should it take up the UK government's offer to invest, or take funding from investors from the Middle East? Students may price the... View Details

Keywords: Government And Business; Option Contract; Corporate Finance; Bank Capital; Bank Regulation; Finance; Banking Industry; Europe; North and Central America

May 2014
Supplement

Barclays Bank, 2008 - courseware

By: Lucy White

In the midst of the financial crisis, Barclays (the world's 4th largest bank by assets) is forced by UK regulators to raise more capital. Should it take up the UK government's offer to invest, or take funding from investors from the Middle East? Students may price the... View Details

Keywords: Government And Business; Option Contract; Corporate Finance; Bank Capital; Bank Regulation; Finance; Banking Industry; Europe; North and Central America