Seattle Pacific University School of Business and Economics: Moss Adams
Seattle Pacific University School of Business and Economics: Moss Adams
Seattle Pacific University School of Business and Economics: Moss Adams
Welcome to Autumn Quarter and BUS 4274. This class is one of two
(BUS 4274 and 4275) dealing primarily with financial analysis and
valuation. These two topics, along with Investments taught by Dr. Hess,
represent the most challenging and essential finance areas to learn
about in an academic setting.
To make the learning most practical, Moss Adams (the 11th largest
accounting firm in the U.S.) has given us a company to value—DEF Road
Construction Corp. (the Case). The Case is real in every respect except
that names and some places have been changed for confidentiality
purposes. You will update the case in teams of 5 students in each team
(no more, no less).
Over the last three years, we made a team competition out of the
valuaton. Last year we added a national component and called it the
Private Business Valuation Challenge℠. If you are selected as part of a
team to compete in the national competition, I will work with you
separately to develop your valuation for presentation in the
competition. You will compete with teams from eight other universities
on April 24-25, 2015 at the Columbia Tower Club in Seattle (an
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exclusive business and social club located on the 75th floor of the
Columbia Tower Building). You will get credit for having compeleted
BUS 4275 at that time. Last year's team came in third in an intense
competition. The team did us proud.
Moss Adams valuation experts and others will judge the competition.
For more information, go to our web site. Follow the Valuation
Challenge on our blog in the web site.
The course builds upon and applies tools, concepts and methodologies
learned in the prerequisites for this class, but we will stick to the
fundamentals of theory. The course is first and foremost a course in
evaluation and application of theory rather than the introduction and
examination of theory.
This case based course requires you work in teams because cases
discussed in teams seem to be among the best vehicles for learning.
Recent research into learning reveals that most people retain:
Working in teams on cases places you in the 80-90% category, 90% to the
extent that you learn the material and relate your knowledge to others in your
team.
The specific objectives of the course are for you to develop an understanding
of each of the following five areas and be able to apply the tools and concepts
associated with each to real business situations:
You may obtain the Harvard cases and other material for this course at a
50% discount or free by following this course link:
https://cb.hbsp.harvard.edu/cbmp/access/27980507
You must register with Harvard Business School Press to gain access.
All the other assignment materials are free including BVR, Zenwealth, and the
blackboard materials. The value of Zenwealth is that it has helpful practice
problems with answers. You are urged to do as many of these problems as
you need to feel confortable with the subject matter. However, be careful with
the formulas supplied by Zenwealth author. They tend to be involved and
unnecessary for this course. The subject matter of all the materials is then to
be applied to Harvard Business School cases, cases that are real situations,
and to the exams. I will take some exam questions from Zenwealth.
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If you feel you need a corporate finance text, free ones (with advertising) are
available at bookboon.com. Select “Textbooks” from their home page and look
in “Economics and Finance” or "Business" and "Accounting and Finance" in
the search box.
The most popular textbook in finance is Brealey, Myers & Allen Principles of
Corporate Finance. I recommend the 10th Edition because it covers all the
issues we need for this class and is less expensive than later editions. It has
problems at the end of each chapter, and I put the answers on blackboard. I
have included relevant chapters to read each week in the Course Outline
below.
It is assumed that you have had the appropriate prerequisites for this course
or their authorized equivalents, and retain an understanding of the
fundamentals of finance. However, we will review in some detail the theory
underlying all of the applications in this course. It is important that you
attend all classes.
ASSIGNMENTS:
Harvard Case Analyses. The first day of class, I will ask you to form
study groups of five people. You choose the participants in your team.
Each study group will prepare responses to the case questions in this
syllabus during class (and afterward, if necessary) and will email each
question set to hkierulf@spu.edu and marksabo@financial-horizons.biz
on or before midnight on the following Sunday. That way, I will have an
idea of how well the class understands the case prior to the next time we
meet. My answers to the case questions will be available on blackboard
by midnight on Sunday. I will be available during class as your
consultant while you work on the cases. After class, I can be reached by
phone, e-mail, or special appointment. My reason for assigning the
questions at the end of this syllabus is to give you some guidance and
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The case analysis questions are graded very leniently. I don’t expect you
to have all the “right” answers, if there are such answers. I do expect a
good effort which clearly indicates that the team members have (1)
studied—not just read—the case; (2) discussed it; (3) recommended
decisions where appropriate; (4) backed up recommendations with
reasoned arguments and (5) made a serious attempt to run the numbers
if appropriate (i.e., applied the quantitative tools of financial analysis and
valuation). This latter point (5) is very important.
Quiz: A quiz on every other Tuesday (with the exception of 10/9) will
cover one or more of the following: previous exam, readings, lectures,
and case(s) from the last exam, and/or current day’s (Tuesday) readings
and case. Since the course builds upon itself, a quiz may relate to
concepts discussed in classes prior to the previous two weeks. A
question about the current case will be designed to determine that you
have read and studied the case before coming to class and are prepared
to discuss it with your team. A current case question will not be
technically difficult since you will not be expected to know the tools and
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You take the quiz during the announced quiz period (approximately 30
minutes) and email it to hkierulf@spu.edu. and marksabo@financial-
horizons.biz. Please be sure to save your exam and put your last name
on the exam icon before you email the exam. The exam idea is to keep
you current in this class because many of these cases and learning
opportunities build on past material. There is no final exam.
Presentations will be made during finals time. If you cannot take an
exam due to illness or family emergency I will need to know beforehand
by phone or email. I will give you the average of your other grades in
that case. I may require a note from a doctor or minister. If you are
away from campus, you can still take the exam since I will email it to the
class. You have one such opportunity.
Your laptop should have enough memory to last through the quiz period.
The only thing showing on your computer should be the quiz unless I
specify otherwise. I will email answers to you. You should review your
exam and analyze the differences between my answers and yours.
The scores for each team member will be averaged and multiplied by the
person's average exam grade to get the individual participation grade.
For example, if a person averages 95 on the exams and averages 100%
on individual participation, the participation grade will be 95. If the
individual points are 110, the participation grade will be 104.5.
The Case Analysis. Each team will prepare an Executive Summary consisting
of a one to three-page analysis of the economy as it applies to the Case, a three
to five page analysis of the industry as it applies to the Case, and a seven to ten
page analysis of the Case company itself along with the update to the year of
valuation of Exhibits 1-7. Use the Valuation Executive Summary
http://www.bvchallenge.org/fundamentals/ (under Course Materials) as a
general guideline with the understanding that you must pick and choose the
most important areas to work with. You may add as many appendixes as you
like to the analysis.
Double space all written work and use 14 point Cambria (or similar) font
on a Word document. Do not submit a pdf document. Use tables, charts, and
other displays when they will make your point clearer or more concise. Use
The Everyday Writer as your resource. For your references, use the American
Psychological Association guidelines provided in The Everyday Writer or other
APA source. Please follow these instructions fully to optimize your grade on
the paper. Papers not using APA and not following other requirements will
lose points.
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Each team will have 20 minutes to present its findings followed by 10 minutes
for Q&A. The evaluation form for the presentation may be found at the end of
this syllabus.
Each exam, case, and paper will be given a number which corresponds to the
following letter grades: A=94-100; A-=90-93; B+=87-89; B=84-86; B-=80-83;
C+=77-79; and so on. Grades will be weighted as follows:
Extra credit for evaluating the course: two points added to your exam grades.
If everyone evaluates the course and sends me an email with the Registrar's
receipt of the evaluation, I will send out the papers and grades early.
Here are four tips for success in this course: (1) be present and
take excellent notes, (2) study the cases thoroughly before class
time, (3) use the problem sets to enhance your understanding, and
(4) read this syllabus carefully with particular emphasis on the
objectives of the course.
Financial http://www.zenwealth.com/BusinessFinanceOnl
Statements ine/FCF/FCFEquations.html. Read prior to
class, do problems, but don’t hand in. Note that
Ratio Analysis working capital should include only operating
working capital.
BMA Ch. 30
10-14 Case Analysis Radio One (Case questions 1 & 2)
BMA Ch. 4
10-21 Case Analysis Exam 2
BMA Ch. 31
10-23 Case Analysis Monmouth, Inc. (Case questions 1 & 2)
BMA Ch. 32
10-28 Case Analysis Free Cash Flow (Website). Discuss in class
BMA Ch. 5
10-30 Case Analysis Three Problems.
Stryker Corp.
http://www.zenwealth.com/BusinessFinanceO
nline/BV/BondValuation.html
http://www.zenwealth.com/BusinessFinanceOnl
ine/SV/StockValuation.html
WACC-CAPM-APV (Website)
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BMA Ch. 8
11-13 Case Analysis Monmouth, Inc. (Questions 3 & 4)
http://www.zenwealth.com/BusinessFinanceOnl
ine/RR/RiskAndReturn.html
Note that there are several obvious errors in
Zenwealth Risk and Return. They should not
detract from the learning.
WACC-CAPM-APV (Website)
BMA Ch. 9
11-18 Case Analysis Exam 4
WACC-CAPM-APV (Website)
CASE QUESTIONS
3. Does it make sense for Mr. Cartwright to take the purchase discounts if
he can? How will this affect his cash requirements for 2004? What
would the income statement and balance sheet look like if he took the
discounts for the entire 2004 year?
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RADIO ONE
1. Why does Radio One want to acquire the 21 stations? What are the
benefits and risks?
2. What price should Radio One offer for the 21 stations based upon a
transaction and trading multiples analysis?
3. What price should Radio One offer for the 21 new stations using the
income method?
MONMOUTH, INC.
1. If you were Mr. Vincent, executive vice president of Monmouth, Inc., would
you try to gain control of Robertson Tool in May 2003?
4. Why is Simmons eager to sell its position to Monmouth for $50 per share?
What are the concerns of and alternatives for each of the other groups of
Robertson shareholders?
Assume a future debt to total capital ratio of 29%, and that the Robertson’s
working capital to sales ratio will drop to 40%. Use the Harris-Pringle beta
formulas. Assume debt cost at 5.5% pre-tax. Assume the "Other" current
liabilities in Exhibit 2 are interest bearing.
STRYKER CORP.
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3. Assume that the cash flows came in the middle of the year but the
terminal value came at the end of year 6. How would this affect the
NPV? Nothing else changes.
4. Compute separate costs of capital for the E&P and Marketing & Refining
divisions. What causes them to differ from one another?
PRESENTATION EVALUATION
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_______________________________________________________________
CONTENT:
How well does the presentation cover these content areas?
Economic outlook E G A F P
Industry study E G A F P
Company study E G A F P
PRESENTATION:
How effective is the presentation?
or poster on or next to the classroom door showing the evacuation route and
the assembly site for the building. Do not use the elevator.
Once you have evacuated the building, proceed to the nearest evacuation
location. The “Stop. Think. Act.” booklet attached to each classroom podium
contains a list of evacuation sites for each building. Check in with your
instructor or a BEC (they will be easily recognizable by their bright orange
vests). During emergencies, give the BEC your full cooperation whenever they
issue directions. They will be the first line of contact during an actual
emergency and cooperation with them should be immediate and complete.
The primary evacuation area for Otto Miller is the Alumni Lot. The
secondary area is the Ross Parking Lot.
SPU-Alert System
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your information through the Banner Information System on the web,
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Additional Information
Additional information about emergency preparedness can be found on the
SPU web page at http://www.spu.edu/info/emergency/index.asp or by
calling the Office of Safety & Security at 206-281-2922.