Theme 8 Project

EMBA LA 31

The Theme 8Project is intended to give you the opportunity to apply the skills you acquire in this theme and throughout the EMBA program to a real-world situation. Six current merger/acquisition deals have been selected for you to work on in teams. There will be a total of 12 teams with two teams assigned to each case/topic. Each team should have 4-6 members!!!

Each team is to prepare a verbal presentation to be delivered on either March 3 or 4to the entire class. The presentations are to be based on the presumption that you have been retained by a party in the case to give relevant advice on the issues involved in that particular situation. You are expected to prepare a professional presentation as if this were a real “paid” engagement.

Key Points: Your group’s presentation should cover several key points described below. The general idea in these presentations is to analyze how the proposed transaction will (or will not) contribute to shareholder value. This entails evaluating the strategy and performing some analysis of the transaction’s impact on value. Sometimes the latter objective can be met by directly applying valuation tools covered in this program. Sometimes the situation makes direct application of these tools more problematic. You are encouraged to be creative and try clever and innovative approaches to the project. Remember, you will be judged with the idea in mind that you are making a real presentation to the principals in this transaction. Your presentation should cover:

  • Situation in the market and the industry
  • Strategic options open to participants
  • Strategy for value creation
  • Financial analysis
  • Recommendation

Please do not take this outline too literally. The main idea is that you should use your creativity and ingenuity here rather than simply conduct an exercise that touches each point listed above in a mechanical way.

Here are the deliverables and key dates involved in this project.

January17: A two-page memo describing your approach to your case is due from each team. This memo will not be available to the rest of the class. The purpose of this memo is to provide a description of your overall approach to the case and a report of your initial progress.

January21: 30-minute review of project status with each group.

February 17: A memo (not more than 20 pages excluding exhibits) summarizing your analysis of your case and a spreadsheet incorporating your financial analysis is due from each team. These should be distributed electronically to the entire class. In addition, two hard copies are to be submitted to the faculty.

February 28: A powerpoint presentation is due from each team. This will be the basis for your verbal presentation to the class. This should be distributed electronically to the entire class in addition to two hard copies for the faculty.

March 3/4: Presentations. Each team should plan on a 15 minute presentation and prepare slides accordingly. We have 90 minutes for each case/topic. This includes two 15 minute presentations and one hour of Q&A. Your team will be graded on both the formal presentation and the quality of the Q&A. Your grade will also be influenced by the 20-page memo, the spreadsheet, and the powerpoint slides.

All of the deliverables (except the initial two-page memo) are distributed to the entire class so that all class members will have ample opportunity to prepare for the class presentations. It is the responsibility of each class member to read all of the documents prepared by the other groups and come to class prepared to discuss all of the presentations. This process works well when we are all prepared to discuss all of these cases. The obvious corollary is that it doesn’t work so well if everybody only pays attention to their own presentation.