Corporate Finance
Objectives
This is an introductory course to corporate finance. The goal of the course is to acquire the tools and develop the skills necessary for making investment and financing decisions that generate shareholder value. Topics are covered in two modules. The first module studies various capital budgeting and valuation techniques, including NPV, IRR, APV, valuation with multiples, etc. In the second module, we will be focusing on financial decisions, particularly on the choice between debt and equity as well as payout policy.
General characterization
Code
2253
Credits
7
Responsible teacher
Fernando Anjos, Irem Demirci
Hours
Weekly - Available soon
Total - Available soon
Teaching language
English
Prerequisites
Bibliography
- Brealey, Richard A., Myers, Stewart C., and Franklin Allen (BMA), Principles of Corporate Finance, McGraw-Hill.
- Grinblatt, Mark and Sheridan Titman (GT), Financial Markets and Corporate Strategy, McGraw- Hill Irwin.
- Ivo Welch (W), Corporate Finance, http://book.ivo-welch.info/home/
Teaching method
The course will consist of lectures, problem sets (not graded), cases/reports, and two exams
Evaluation method
The course grade will be calculated based on the following weight distribution:
- Exam I (Module I) – 40%
- Exam II (Module II) – 40%
- 2 graded cases/reports – 20% (10% each)
Subject matter
A. Knowledge and Understanding
To obtain an understanding of financial management concepts and to develop the ability to use the tools of business analysis such as valuation, risk-return relationship, financial statement analysis, capital budgeting, cost of capital, capital structure and dividend policy.
B. Subject-Specific Skills
- Estimate the required return on projects with different risk.
- Use the required return in evaluating investment decisions.
- Apply the option pricing theory to project valuation.
- Explain why determining the optimal capital structure is important.
- Incorporate the cost of capital into investment decisions.
- Understand the importance of taxes, agency costs and asymmetric information.
- Determine the optimal dividend payout.
C. General Skills
- Apply and rationalize the decision-making process involved in the financial management of a firm: the investment, capital structure and payout decision.
- Discuss the various methods for analyzing projects, how to apply them and what to do if there are conflicting recommendations.
- Apply measures of cost of capital and financial leverage to form long-term financial policies for businesses.
- Relate capital investment decisions and financial policies to business valuations.
- Describe applications of options in capital budgeting.
- Discuss the key financial issues surrounding the creation of shareholder value.
- Evaluate corporate financial management strategies.