Course webpage: Vista Power point slides and other materials will be posted on the course website.

Financial Management is the art and science of basing important corporate decisions and their implementation on current financial theory, advanced quantitative and empirical methods, and best practices deduced from careful study of relevant business cases. In this course we will use mergers, acquisitions, and corporate restructurings as a focal point in our study of financial management. These critical events in the life of a corporation require sound judgment based on the full set of tools available to the financial manager. We will draw on, apply to M&A settings, and extend your knowledge of finance topics including valuation, financial statement analysis, working capital management, capital structure, financial distress, securities markets, securities issuance, agency theory, corporate governance, executive compensation, and both real and financial options. Our study of change of control will include the economic motivations for M&A activity, advanced valuation, transaction structuring, creative financing, risk management, tactics for friendly M&A negotiations and hostile transactions, due diligence, and execution. We consider the central role of corporate managers, private investors, investment funds, public financial markets, and regulators. By the end of the course you should