Cor­por­ate Fin­ance

Course content

The aim of the course is to provide students with the capacity to understand, apply, and adapt the theories, models, and techniques that have been developed in corporate finance, enabling informed decision making.

Contents

This course explores the use of corporate financial models for evaluating business decisions. A collection of theoretical models is discussed. Students not only need to understand the strengths and weaknesses of these models, but also need to assess which model best fits practical situations. Students are expected to adequately apply the models to these situations.

Business environments are constantly experiencing changes in regulatory and market environments. Students are expected to reflect on the impact of these changing business environments. Furthermore, this course will provide students with the skills to adapt and generalize the selected models to apply them to a multitude of complex settings. Students are expected to adapt theories to constraints, whether they be related to available capital, labour, office space, or environmental restrictions.

The following topics are treated:

• Investment decision rules
• Corporate governance and agency problems
• Corporate reporting
• Capital budgeting – project evaluation and cost of capital
• Long-term financial planning – equity and debt
• Capital structure theory
• Payout policy
• Financial options, real options, and risk management
• Mergers and acquisitions
• Business valuation