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Mergers and Acquisitions

Module description

This course examines several forms of corporate reorganisations, including mergers and acquisitions, reorganisation through workouts and bankruptcy, divisional spin-offs and divestitures, and leveraged buyouts. Students will examine the process of managing reorganisation, the role of the investment bank and other specialists, regulation, and cross-country comparisons. The course will have a strong conceptual approach, with an emphasis on why mergers and other reorganisations take place, what is their role in the economy, and how do they perform from the viewpoint of shareholders and other parties. There will be a strong institutional flavour that will be communicated through papers of a more applied nature. Real case studies will provide the applications of the course.

Module aims - intentions of the module

The aim of the module is to familiarise the students with the notion of various types of corporate reorganisations and their role in the economy. Topics such as M&A valuation, financing and performance, ownership structure and control, as well as shareholder activism, bank debt restructuring and private equity transactions would be covered. Selected topics covered in the course study the cross-country corporate reorganisations, as well as the differences in ownership structure, legal system and corporate governance around the world. Students learn to apply insights from the recent academic literature in the context of real-life cases involving corporate reorganisations. They also develop their skills in team-working, presentation, and independent thinking in this module.

Intended Learning Outcomes (ILOs)

ILO: Module-specific skills

On successfully completing the module you will be able to...

• 1. comprehensively understand the notion of corporate reorganisations, their role in the economy, and how they perform from the viewpoint of shareholders and other parties;
• 2. comprehensively understand major cross-country differences regarding ownership structure, control and the legal system;
• 3. learn alternative ways of valuation of various types of corporate reorganisations;
• 4. gain knowledge on the most common investment strategies of private equity funds: leveraged buyouts, venture capital, growth capital, distressed investments and mezzanine capital;
• 5. effectively demonstrate familiarity with the recent developments in the M&A research and practice.

ILO: Discipline-specific skills

On successfully completing the module you will be able to...

• 6. understand the financial decision making process and apply it in solving of complex company reorganisation problems;
• 7. propose novel solutions in financial problem solving and make decisions in unpredictable situations and design a range of different trading strategies and test their effectiveness;
• 8. independently interpret financial data and problems in the light of established;
• 9. access, synthesise, and evaluate with minimum guidance a body of relevant existing research and use it as a guidance in addressing real life corporate finance problems.

ILO: Personal and key skills

On successfully completing the module you will be able to...

• 10. utilise appropriate negotiation and persuasion techniques for a given negotiation situation to achieve desired outcomes, as required to deliver the role outcomes;
• 11. work as part of an effective team to prepare a financial valuation and a negotiation plan;
• 12. explore the role of mergers and acquisitions within your corporate strategy, and learn to manage cultural and system challengers arising post-acquisition, and understand key drivers for on-going success;

Syllabus plan

• Hostile takeovers in Europe, North America and Asia
• Financing of mergers, bid premium and post-merger performance
• Landscape of ownership across the world
• Shareholder activism in US, Europe and Japan
• Private equity transactions
• Private companies and family ownership
• M&A valuation
• Bank debt restructuring and problems in debt overhang

Learning activities and teaching methods (given in hours of study time)

Details of learning activities and teaching methods

Formative assessment

Summative assessment (% of credit)

Details of summative assessment

Details of re-assessment (where required by referral or deferral)

Re-assessment notes

Defer – As first time

Refer – capped at 40%

Indicative learning resources - Basic reading

• Mergers and Acquisitions, CFA® Program Curriculum Level 2, CFA Institute.

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Mergers and Acquisitions