Postgraduate Course: Financial Aspects of Mergers & Acquisitions (MBA) (CMSE11264)
Course Outline
| School | Business School |
College | College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences |
| Credit level (Normal year taken) | SCQF Level 11 (Postgraduate) |
Availability | Not available to visiting students |
| SCQF Credits | 10 |
ECTS Credits | 5 |
| Summary | Corporate mergers and acquisitions (M&As) involve realigning the ownership and management of assets. The threat of such change represents the ultimate sanction on existing management by dissatisfied shareholders. Changes both to owners' expectations and management are intended to correct failing business strategies and disappointing financial performance. M&As may also help promote capital market and general economic allocative efficiency.
The course will give students a good appreciation of the theoretical, practical and institutional aspects of mergers & acquisitions, with a focus on some the financial aspects of such deals.
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| Course description |
Takeovers are major business decisions involving strategy, financial analysis and policy, valuation and decision-making processes and methods both in a theoretical context and a practical setting. After completing this course students should have a good understanding of the issues involved, be able to integrate these and know how to value an acquisition prospect.
Syllabus
Mergers and acquisitions, and the market for corporate control.
Target company valuation
Merger motives
The merger process, negotiating and deal structure
Evaluating M&A outcomes
Student Learning Experience
The course is delivered through a mix of lectures, cases and discussion, supported by readings from the set texts and relevant articles. Students are encouraged to contribute their own experiences to the discussions.
Learning will primarily be through case studies and class discussions complemented with lectures. Issues around mergers and acquisitions are complex and can take time to absorb and students should expect to have to invest time prior to lectures (including having read and prepared the case before class) in order to fully understand and participate in class discussions.
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Entry Requirements (not applicable to Visiting Students)
| Pre-requisites |
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Co-requisites | |
| Prohibited Combinations | |
Other requirements | For Business School MBA students only, or by special permission of the School. Please contact the course secretary. |
Course Delivery Information
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| Academic year 2022/23, Not available to visiting students (SS1)
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Quota: None |
| Course Start |
Block 5 (Sem 2) and beyond |
Timetable |
Timetable |
| Learning and Teaching activities (Further Info) |
Total Hours:
100
(
Lecture Hours 24,
Summative Assessment Hours 26,
Programme Level Learning and Teaching Hours 2,
Directed Learning and Independent Learning Hours
48 )
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| Assessment (Further Info) |
Written Exam
0 %,
Coursework
100 %,
Practical Exam
0 %
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| Additional Information (Assessment) |
The course will be assessed by an individual project, counting for 100% of the course mark. |
| Feedback |
Students will receive formative feedback in discussions relating to the target company valuation case study
Students will be provided with electronic written feedback for the summative assignment.
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| No Exam Information |
Learning Outcomes
On completion of this course, the student will be able to:
- Understand and critically discuss some of the main strands of theory and the latest trends in research on which mergers and acquisitions depend.
- Critically evaluate merger motives.
- Understand and critically discuss how firms make mergers and acquisitions and how they structure and finance them.
- Critically evaluate how mergers and acquisitions affect company performance and how investors react to them.
- Understand and critically discuss some of the key success factors of mergers and acquisitions.
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Reading List
Core text:
Sudarsanam, S., (2010), Creating value from mergers and acquisition: The challenges, FT Prentice Hall (Pearson Education), 2nd edition.
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Additional Information
| Graduate Attributes and Skills |
Cognitive Skills:
Demonstrate how takeovers and mergers can contribute to firm strategic success and value enhancement.
Evaluate the relevance and practical application of established paradigms and theories.
Critically appraise the importance of good merger and acquisition planning.
Take a holistic approach to solving decision problems and assessing potential outcomes using a financial framework.
Explain choices in financial assessment methods and their rationale for adoption in a particular decision issue.
Subject Specific Skills:
Utilise information and data obtained from a variety of sources, including the library, the internet, databases and management information systems for evaluating a financial problem.
Apply financial methodologies to strategic and operational level decision problems in the specific context of mergers and acquisitions.
Analyse material presented in a variety of ways and structure it into a coherent argument for evidence-based decision making.
Critically analyse problems in business finance and defend the conclusions reached.
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| Keywords | Finance Strategy Mergers Acquisitions Valuation |
Contacts
| Course organiser | Prof Jo Danbolt
Tel: (0131 6)50 2448
Email: |
Course secretary | Mrs Angela Muir
Tel: (0131 6)51 3854
Email: |
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