Vlerick Expertise in Accounting & Finance

A new KPMG International survey has found that 58% of family businesses are currently seeking external financing to fund their investment plans, but finding the right strategic investment partner can be challenging. While family businesses create more than 70% of global GDP many say they find their fundraising options limited.

A socioeconomic impact study under the leadership of Professor Sophie Manigart shows the importance of further support for the Flemish venture capital industry and argues for the expansion of the ARKimedes scheme. Various parameters reveal that the ARKimedes scheme appears to have a significant impact on the Flemish venture economy.

Many big-name companies such as Apple, Rovio (of Angry Birds fame), Spotify, Facebook, Google, Microsoft and Starbucks would never have existed, or certainly never have grown so big, without venture capital. “Venture capital is vitally important for start-up companies that have an idea or perhaps even a prototype, but often no finished product that they can put onto the market,” explains David Devigne, whose doctoral research under Sophie Manigart, professor and expert in venture capital, investigated cross-border venture capitalists and their portfolio companies in Europe. This research has shown that businesses need to think carefully about which financier they take on board. This is because the origin of the capital affects the company’s success.

Merger and Acquisitions (M&As) offer an interesting setting to analyse corporate financial decisions. These transactions might create a sudden need for additional external financial resources, leading to fundamental changes in a company’s capital structure. This case provides an overview of six M&A transactions with their unique features.

The Belgian infrastructure debt market has undergone considerable changes in the past years. Due to low interest rates environment together with new banking and insurance regulations, market players have revised their infrastructure investment strategies. In order to investigate the recent developments in Belgian infrastructure debt market and their origins, professor Issam Hallak and researcher Mathias Wambeke conducted interviews with market players, representative of the different categories: lenders, private equity funds, public entities, financial advisors, and regulators.

While it is true that mergers and acquisitions have seen a moderate decline in the wake of the financial crisis, they continue to be important ways in which to grow or restructure businesses. Even though in the past it were primarily financially sound companies that took advantage of these techniques, nowadays an increasing number of acquisitions involve firms in financial troubles. Thorough academic analysis of such transactions is lacking, however. The research carried out by Evy Bruyland for her doctorate sets about filling this gap.

In August 2012, Apple's stock price hit $700, making it by far the most valuable company in the world with a market capitalization transcending $650 billion. 'Cash is king', is an awfully often heard management slogan, but what about keeping a colossal war chest of $121 billion? And how to frame the March 2012 payout pledge of $45 billion? This case study assesses Apple’s performance using a long-term perspective. It explores Apple’s tax payments and investigates the company’s capital structure, cash position and dividend policy.

The continued consolidation in the pharmaceutical industry has baffled many individuals. Confronted with major threats like patent losses, a depressed economic environment, soaring R&D costs, low productive development pipelines, pricing pressure and generic competition, Big Pharma has struck multibillion dollar deals like the Pfizer - Wyeth acquisition in 2009. In this case, we contrast small biotech with Big Pharma.

What happens once a venture capitalist (VC) has decided to invest in a portfolio company or entrepreneur? That’s the question professors Sophie Manigart (Vlerick Business School) and Mike Wright (Imperial College Business School, UK) tackle in their book “Venture Capital Investors and Portfolio Firms”.

At the end of 2008, Dutch automotive component supplier AutoParts was on the verge of bankruptcy, due to high leverage levels combined with lower revenues as a consequence of the worldwide economic crisis. This case discusses a private equity investment in a distressed company undergoing operational and financial restructuring. It strongly focuses on the valuation of a troubled company.