Advanced Corporate Finance

Catalog description

This class is designed to provide you with the financial tools to (a) value potential corporate investment opportunities, and (b) understand which securities should be used to finance corporate investment (capital structure decision). These basic skills are essential for students interested in commercial banking, investment banking, mergers and acquisitions, private equity, venture capital, corporate financial management, consulting and asset management. The class is divided into two sections, which correspond to the two main goals of the course. The first part of the course covers methods used to value investment projects. Particular attention will be given to calculating free cash flows, discount rates, valuing incremental investments, the effects of financing on value, the methods of weighted-average cost of capital (WACC) and adjusted present value (APV). The second part of the course will focus on understanding which securities should be used to finance investment. This section starts with an analysis of tax and bankruptcy implications of debt financing, and moves on to consider information and agency problems. We will discuss information problems associated with equity financing, the incentive effects of debt financing, and the conflicts between equity and debt stakeholders.