48144 - CORPORATE FINANCE

Conoscenze e abilità da conseguire

At the completion of the course, students will be equipped with the fundamental concepts of financial management. This includes the ability to understand the firm’s governance, and to assess the impact of investing, financing, and risk management decisions on the firm’s market value, in a classical shareholder’s wealth maximization framework.

Contenuti

This course provides a comprehensive introduction to the principles of financial management, focusing on how corporate decisions affect a firm’s market value within a shareholder value maximization framework. In the first part, students will explore investment decisions, including project and firm valuation. The second part shifts to financing choices and capital structure, examining how companies raise funds through different instruments. The final part integrates investment and financing decisions, emphasizing their combined impact on value creation, destruction, or transfer. Throughout the course, students will gain essential tools to understand governance mechanisms and financial strategy in corporate settings.

Structure of the course:

1 Course presentation. Introduction to corporate finance. The goal of financial management as value creation.

2 Time value of money. Future value and compounding, present value and discounting.

3 Debt Financing.

4 Equity Financing.

5 Class exercise: bond and stock valuation.

6 NPV and other investment criteria (e.g. IRR, payback period).

7 Concepts and procedures of capital budgeting, computing project cash flows.

8 Class exercise: NPV & Valuation.

9 Introduction to risk and return: portfolio theory

10 CAPM (derivation).

11 CAPM to estimate the cost of capital: Beta Equity, Beta Debt, Beta Assets.

12 Risk and the cost of capital: WACC and Nike case study.

13 Class exercise: portfolio and the cost of capital.

14 Overview of corporate financing.

15 Issuance of securities.

16 Distribution policies.

17 Capital structure and value I: irrelevance.

18 Capital structure and value II: relevance.

19 Class exercise: financial structure.

20 Course wrap-up, mock exam.

Testi/Bibliografia

Required Readings:

Brealey, R.A., Myers, S.C., Allen F., Edmans, A., Principles of Corporate Finance, 2023, 14/e, McGraw-Hill Ed.

A compact version of the textbook, including only the chapters we will cover during the course, is available with the following ISBN: 9781307825572. BASCHIERI, BIGELLI - CORPORATE FINANCE - CREATE MCGRAW-HILL

Metodi didattici

The main instructional approaches used in the course are:

- Lectures

- Problem-Based Learning

Modalità di verifica e valutazione dell'apprendimento

Though not compulsory, class attendance is strongly encouraged.

Component Weight (%)

Midterm Exam 50

Final Exam 50

- Midterm/final structure:

The course assessment consists of either two written exams (midterm and final) or one comprehensive final exam.

Each midterm and final includes 8 multiple-choice questions (1 point each) and 4 exercises (2 points each), to be completed in 25 minutes. The midterm covers the first 10 lectures, while the final focuses on the last 10. Alternatively, students may opt for a single comprehensive exam at the end of the course, which includes 16 multiple-choice questions and 8 exercises, to be completed in 50 minutes. In all cases, the maximum achievable score is 32, with scores above 30 considered as 30 cum laude.

The evaluation of the answers of the exam depends on the correctness, completeness and rigor of the answers.

- Exam policy:

The exams are closed-book and must be taken on-site. Students must register via Almaesami to access any test—whether midterm, final, or comprehensive—and no exceptions will be made. Students may choose between the midterm/final format or a single final exam. Grades will be published a few days after the exam. Students will be given the possibility to reject the grade and re-take the exam within a given deadline from time to time communicated. Rejection requests must be sent to the instructor via email.

Students can attend a mid-term exam (not compulsory) during the break at the end of the first sub-cycle, and then the second mid-term exam at the end of the course. The grades of the two mid-term exams will be summed to compute the “final written exam” grade.

Those who positively pass the first mid-term exam have the chance to take the second mid-term exam either in the January or February session. The second mid-term can be taken only once. Therefore, if a student does not pass the second mid-term exam (or opts for a re-take), s/he can attend only total exams from that moment on.

Grading scale:

< 18: failed

18-23: sufficient

24-27: good

28-30: very good

30 e lode: outstanding

Students with disability or specific learning disabilities (DSA) are required to make their condition known to find the best possible accommodation to their needs.

Strumenti a supporto della didattica

Tools, platforms, or resources used during the course:

- Learning platform: Virtuale (virtuale.unibo.it) contains the slides and the team-work assignments

- Presentation software: PowerPoint

- Communication tools: Email; Teams; Forum on Virtuale

Orario di ricevimento

Consulta il sito web di Giulia Baschieri

Consulta il sito web di Marco Bigelli