Top­ics in Cor­por­ate Fin­ance

Course content

The course covers contemporary issues in corporate finance. It's focus is on different types of conflicts of interest that can arise between shareholders, creditors, managers, and other stakeholders in corporations and which impact a firm's ability to raise external finance.

The course goes beyond the textbook capital structure paradigm of Modigliani-Millier, and introduces students to modern corporate financial theories associated with the costs and benefits of debt finance, as well as to past and recent developments in corporations' financing practices. 

The course is relevant for students interested in a career in areas such as consulting, corporate finance, investment banking,  private equity, and startup finance.
 

The course consists of physical lectures and in-lecture discussions and employs a mix of theoretical models, research studies, newpaper clippings, cases, and institutional knowledge to analyse and identify theoretical mechanisms and empirical patterns in the material covered. 

Central in the course is a business case study which is an obligatory assignment to be solved in groups. A full lecture will be devoted to a general class discussion of the case after the assignment is handed in. The case illustrates themes discussed in the course and will must be passed in order to students to be allowed to take the written exam. 

The exact course content may vary from year to year, but will inclue topics such as the following: 

Agency theory

Bankruptcy and corporate restructuring

Capital structure decisions

CEO compensation

Levered buyouts

Merger and acquisitions, corporate restructuring

Private equity and venture capital

ESG finance

Dividend policy and share repurchases

Initial public offerings