Private Equity Initiative - Courses- Related Electives

RELATED COURSES

HEALTH CARE FINANCE
 Faculty
Christoph Herpfer, Assistant Professor of Business Administration
Course Description
The health care sector accounts for more than 20% of the US economy and demands substantial high skill management. Despite the enormous opportunities for MBA graduates, the health care sector is still an overlooked path for generalist top MBAs. This course aims to bridge the gap by mapping advanced finance topics into the healthcare space, preparing students for a successful career in health care management. We start by examining the tightly regulated and complex structures for payments and revenue in healthcare, the political interest impacting financing and investment decisions, and the critical importance of managing the health of the population. We will explore the unique financing needs and long-term capital management strategies in this sector and how they relate to other industries. We then delve into advanced finance topics such as M&A, VC, and entrepreneurship in the health care sector. We analyze the unique opportunities and challenges in the health care investment landscape, including venture capital and private equity investment, the potential for start-ups and entrepreneurship. We will explore this nexus of questions through case studies, guest lectures, and interactive discussions to provide students with practical experience in applying finance concepts to the healthcare industry. Students will gain skills and knowledge to succeed both in the health care industry directly, and in the fast-growing sector of healthcare specialized professional services such as investment banking solutions, buyouts and venture capital.
MERGERS & ACQUISITIONS
Faculty
Michael Ho, Professor of Practice
Course Description
This course is designed to provide students with a practical understanding of the merger and acquisition marketplace, addressing such topics as why companies grow through acquisitions, how acquisition or merger candidates are analyzed strategically and valued financially, and ultimately, whether and how mergers and acquisitions create value for stakeholders. Takeovers and mergers are a daily fact of life, have evolved into a critical part of every CEO’s strategic toolbox, and will most likely affect every person who enters the corporate world at some point in their career. Whether a student chooses to be a senior corporate manager, an M&A practitioner, or merely an informed armchair observer, the course is intended to provide the analytical framework to evaluate an acquisition from a strategic, financial, structural, tactical, legal and ethical perspective. Students will apply learned content to real business situations, including the opportunity to develop, create and present an acquisition proposal to an actual corporate client during the class.
Course Objectives
• Examine the role that M&A plays in the contemporary corporate world, and its use as a strategic tool to provide revenue growth, enhance competitive position, transform a company or industry, and create economic value
• Use the language and processes of M&A to develop a framework for analyzing transactions including understanding strategic rationale, valuation methodologies, deal structures, bidding strategies, and the need for a value proposition
• Develop a concept, structure a deal, and present an actionable proposal for an M&A transaction to an actual corporation as part of a group project
• Show how M&A can be used successfully as well as its pitfalls, dangers, and risks
CORPORATE FINANCING
Faculty
Matthew McBrady, Professor of Practice
Course Description
The course focuses on capital raising in the United States and international markets and has as its ultimate goal a greater understanding of the capital acquisition process while it emphasizes capital raising in public markets. The course covers the institutional process of security issuance—the formal rules and regulations as well as the informal norms and practices of the marketplace. Issuance in public security markets entails strict adherence to these rules and regulations that govern the marketplace. While these rules place more limitations on managers’ actions than private placements, the United States and the developed world’s capital markets offer firms the broadest array of possible funding sources at the lowest cost. Students will survey a number of commonly used financing arrangements, such as follow-on equity issues, initial public offerings, ADRs, and several forms of straight and convertible debt. The course targets students with professional interests in corporate finance, commercial and investment banking, financial services, and management consulting.
HOT TOPICS IN FINANCE
Faculty
Pedro Matos, James A. and Stacy Cooper Bicentennial Professor of Business Administration, John G. Macfarlane Family Chair and Academic Director of Richard A. Mayo Center for Asset Management
Course Description
The course gives students the opportunity to hear financial market experts discuss the most current financial issues in the headlines. Topics will span issues of concern to Wall Street as well as corporate America. Each class will feature a new speaker who will either introduce a new issue to the class or will bring a different perspective on the issue of a previous speaker. Students will be asked to prepare readings and/or online research for each class. The course is offered in the fourth quarter in order to serve as a capstone experience for students interested in finance careers in investment banking, corporate finance as well as money management. Most speakers will be Darden alumni who will be identified from the joint efforts of finance faculty members and the Finance Alumni Advisory Council. The content of the course will vary according to what topics are in the news as well as the availability of speakers and will cover all segments of finance and financial markets such as banking sector crises, capital market innovations, capital investment trends, CFO challenges, corporate and personal taxation, corporate scandals and ethics, emerging markets, investment performance by asset classes and economic sectors, M&A news and trends, risk capital and capital formation, and risk management. Students will be assigned readings in advance of class and/or a topic to research prior to class. Speaker will run classes according to their own style, but a significant amount of time will be interactive with questions and answers and debate.
VENTURE CAPITAL FINANCE
 Faculty
Rus Abuzov,  Assistant Professor of Business Administration
Course Description
Venture capital (VC) finance course focuses on the institutional side of early-stage investing. The goal of the class is to help managers make better investment and financing decisions in an entrepreneurial setting. The course covers the stages of a venture's life from raising startup financing to arranging an exit.  We discuss the sources of startup capital, the valuation of startup companies, and how to structure deal terms and exit opportunities. The course is designed to provide students with a comprehensive set of skills that allow them to analyze situations of high risk and uncertainty from the investor’s perspective.
Valuation in Financial Markets is a prerequisite for this course.
 What Students Say
"The course allowed me to explore different perspectives from what fundraising may look like for an entrepreneur to one of a VC partner looking at a potential investment. After taking it, I gained a much better understanding of the ins and outs of the venture capital landscape as well as the various mechanisms one could use to incentivize entrepreneurs and achieve better returns for investors." Kiana Feliciano MBA Class of 2024
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"The course helped me appreciate the multiple levers entrepreneurs and financiers can pull to mitigate the downside and participate in the upside. It wasn't just numbers - we dove into the human and contractual elements that can make or break a deal and propel or sink a venture." Carlos Saballos MBA Class of 2024
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"This was a fantastic course that effortlessly blended the quantitative modeling and qualitative strategy of venture capital. I left the course with a clear understanding of two key industry aspects: (i) The various vehicles a private investor can used depending on stage, risk tolerance, etc. (ii) The stakeholder alignment or conflict associated with each vehicle’s incentive structure." Will Whitehurst MBA Class of 2024
VENTURE CAPITAL LEADERSHIP
Faculty
Les Alexander, John Glynn Endowed Professor and Professor of Practice in Business Administration
Course Description
The Venture Capital Leadership course explores the role venture capital plays in the private capital ecosystem through in class conversations with industry leaders and case discussions. The course offers students the opportunity to examine current topics impacting the venture capital industry, learn about the various providers of start-up, seed, early, and late-stage capital, explore why limited partners allocate to this asset class, and evaluate the similarities and differences between venture capital and corporate venture capital. We will also discuss how venture capitalists engage with their portfolio companies, providing not only capital, but also assistance to help build successful businesses. Throughout the course we will consider themes such as how private capital investments are different from investing in the public capital markets, how to be selective when evaluating investment opportunities, and how venture capital impacts the economy.
Course Objectives
The Venture Capital Leadership course is designed to engage students in a conversation about the topics venture capital fund managers face as they seek to raise capital, make investments, manage investments, and return capital along with profits to their limited partners. The course will explore the private capital ecosystem and the role venture capital plays in providing capital to start-up, early and late-stage companies. More specifically, this course is designed to achieve the following objectives:
• Explore the unique nature of private capital market investments in general and venture capital investments in particular
• Develop an appreciation for the many different providers of capital to start-up, early, and late-stage businesses
• Gain insight into the impact venture capital makes on the economy and society as well as discuss ways that venture capital could improve in these areas
• Practice the evaluation of potential investment opportunities and how to select attractive investments
• Understand the similarities and differences between venture capital and corporate venture capital
• Learn ways venture capitalists can engage with and add value to portfolio companies
• Understand the relationship between the fund managers and their limited partners as well as the reasons limited partners invest in venture capital funds and other alternative assets