OVERVIEW

Corporate Finance is about companies, investors, and their interaction in financial markets. Essentially, companies make decisions (how to raise capital, how to invest that capital, …) and investors react to those decisions by bidding the company’s stock and bond prices up or down. During this course we will look at this interaction from the point of view of both companies and investors, with a special emphasis on companies.

AIMS AND CONTENT

LEARNING OUTCOMES

The course covers a wide range of topics such as: the evaluation of investment projects; corporate value creation; measures of risk, return, and diversification and a company’s cost of capital; the optimal mix of debt and equity (capital structure); distribution (dividend and buyback) policies; and the valuation of companies by using DCF (discounted cash flow) analysis.

AIMS AND LEARNING OUTCOMES

After studying this course, students should be able to:

• identify the key themes in corporate finance

• explain the role of finance in an organisation

• explain and analyse the interrelationship between finance and governance

• analyse the relationship between strategic decision making and corporate financing decisions

• evaluate a project using different techniques

• calculate cost of equity using Capital Asset Pricing Model

• understand the main drivers of financing decisions.

PREREQUISITES

Students attending this course are required to have a thorough understanding of Business administration.

They should also have a good knowledge of Financial mathematics and Accounting.

TEACHING METHODS

The course entails different teaching methods such as Lectures, Case Studies, Seminars and Workshop with Professionals, Assignments using Aulaweb platform, Auto evaluation tests.

In consideration of the current COVID-19 emergency, if restrictions persist and traditional face-to-face classrooms teaching is not be possible, blended learning methods will be adopted and the whole course will be available also online. More details will be provided to the students at the beginning of the semester via AulaWeb.

SYLLABUS/CONTENT

Parte I - Investment Prject Evaluation

• The Law of One Price and Financial Decision Making
• The Time Value of Money and Interest Rates;
• Valuing Bonds and Stocks 
• Investment Decision Rules
• Fundamentals of Capital Budgeting
• Valuing 

Parte II- Cost of Equity

• Capital Markets and the Pricing of Risk
•  Optimal Portfolio Choice and the Capital Asset Pricing Model
• Estimating the Cost of Capital

Parte III - CAPITAL STRUCTURE

• Capital Structure in a Perfect Market
• Debt and Taxes
• Financial Distress, Managerial Incentives, and Information
• Capital Budgeting and Valuation with Leverage

RECOMMENDED READING/BIBLIOGRAPHY

Main textbook

• S. Ross, D. Hillier, R. Westerfield, J. Jaffe, B. Jordan, “Corporate Finance” 2/ed, McGraw Hill, 2015.

Alternatively or in addition:

• R. A. Brealey, S. C. Myers, F. Allen, S. Hill, “Principi di Finanza Aziendale”, McGraw Hill , 2015
• J. Berk, P. DeMarzo, “Finanza aziendale 1”, Pearson,  2011 (3° edition)

TEACHERS AND EXAM BOARD

Exam Board

LAURA NIERI (President)

BARBARA ALEMANNI

MARCO DI ANTONIO

FRANCESCA QUERCI

LESSONS

LESSONS START

Lessons start in the first semester on September 15, 2020.

Class schedule

CORPORATE FINANCE

EXAMS

EXAM DESCRIPTION

Final written exam.

Students that attend lectures regularly may choose the 'continuos valuation method' that implies 3-4 assignments and an intermediate exam.

ASSESSMENT METHODS

The exam includes:

• multiple-choices questions
• true/false questions
• open-ended questions
• problems

Exam schedule

FURTHER INFORMATION

Students who fail the exam can repeat it with no limitations.

However if the final score in below 16/30 the exam cannot be repeated in the next date.