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2024/2025  KAN-CEADV2403U  Topics in Corporate Finance

English Title
Topics in Corporate Finance

Course information
Language English
Course ECTS 7.5 ECTS
Type Elective
Level Full Degree Master
Duration One Semester
Start time of the course Autumn
Timetable Course schedule will be posted at calendar.cbs.dk
Max. participants 60
Study board
Study Board for OECON and ECFI
Course coordinator
  • Charlotte Østergaard - Department of Finance (FI)
Main academic disciplines
  • Finance
Teaching methods
  • Face-to-face teaching
Last updated on 15-11-2024

Relevant links
Learning objectives
Understand how firm value may be impacted by financing choices.
  • Ability to identify conflicts of interest between different corporate stakeholders.
  • Ability to interpret empirical evidence in light of theory.
  • Ability to identify pros and cons (trade-offs) associates with the different financing choices.
  • Ability to structure and articulate economic arguments precisely.
Course prerequisites
Students must have completed a first-year MSc-level corporate finance course at the level of KAN-CFIVO1002U, KAN-CFSMO1119U, KAN-CFIRO1050U or KAN-COECO1060U.
Please send a 1 page motivational letter arguing why you want to participate and how you would contribute to the course, and a 1 page graduate grade transcript to ily.stu@cbs.dk before the registration deadline for elective courses.
Please also remember to sign up through the online registration..
Prerequisites for registering for the exam (activities during the teaching period)
Number of compulsory activities which must be approved (see section 13 of the Programme Regulations): 1
Compulsory home assignments
1 out of 2 assignments must be assessed as approved.

The assignment is a business case study of max. 5 pages (appendices excluded) and is made in groups of 3-4 students.

The student will not have extra attempts to get the required number of compulsory activities approved prior to the ordinary exam. If the student has not received approval for the required number of compulsory activities or has been ill, the student cannot participate in ordinary exam. Prior to the retake the student will be given an extra attempt. The extra attempt is a 10 page home assignment that will cover the required number of compulsory activities. If approved, the student will be able to attend retake. Please note that students must have made an effort in the allocated assignments throughout the course. Students that do not participate in the assignments (no show/U) are not entitled to the extra assignment and will have to wait until the next ordinary exam to complete the course.
Examination
Topics in Corporate Finance:
Exam ECTS 7,5
Examination form Written sit-in exam on CBS' computers
Individual or group exam Individual exam
Assignment type Written assignment
Duration 4 hours
Grading scale 7-point grading scale
Examiner(s) One internal examiner
Exam period Winter
Aids Limited aids, see the list below:
The student is allowed to bring
  • An approved calculator. Only the models HP10bll+ or Texas BA ll Plus are allowed (both models are non-programmable, financial calculators).
  • Language dictionaries in paper format
The student will have access to
  • basic IT application package
Make-up exam/re-exam
Same examination form as the ordinary exam
The number of registered candidates for the make-up examination/re-take examination may warrant that it most appropriately be held as an oral examination. The programme office will inform the students if the make-up examination/re-take examination instead is held as an oral examination including a second examiner or external examiner.
Description of the exam procedure

 

 
Course content, structure and pedagogical approach

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

 
Description of the teaching methods
Lectures and class discussions. Students are expected to prepare for the lecture by reading assigned papers and newpaper articles, and participate actively in the discussions. There will be group assignments and possibly group presentations. Most learning will take place through student discussions of articles, cases and group assignments.
Feedback during the teaching period
Students receive feedback via class discussions on the topics covered and on the business case study. The case study will be graded (pass/fail) with comments from the instructor. In addition, ad hoc exam-like assignments will be covered and discussed in class.
Student workload
Class lectures 30 hours
Exam 4 hours
Case study assignment 30 hours
Preparation and problem sets 142 hours
Expected literature

Academic journal articles and lecture slides constitute the primary material for the course. A complete reading list will be available online at the start of the course. 
Last updated on 15-11-2024