BFC-B-03: Cases in Corporate Finance

Winter Term 2026/2027

This module offers a practice- and case-oriented introduction to corporate finance. It begins by reviewing the core toolkit — the time value of money, financing instruments (equity and debt), the cost of capital and the CAPM, and stock valuation — before applying these tools, in an integrated capstone case, to a single company’s real financing decision. Building on this foundation, the module develops the theory and practice of capital structure (the Modigliani–Miller theorem, trade-off theory, payout policy, pecking-order theory, and agency costs), the cost of capital, and the two dominant approaches to business valuation: discounted cash flow (entity, APV, and equity approaches) and market multiples. The module closes with three topics of direct relevance to practice: value-based management (Economic Value Added and Cash Value Added) and its use in governance and compensation, real options as an extension of net-presentvalue analysis under uncertainty, and the two major corporate-finance transactions of a firm’s life cycle — mergers and acquisitions and initial public offerings, illustrated among others through a detailed, up-to-date case study. Throughout, the module favors a structured, case-based application of financial concepts and quantitative problem-solving over abstract theory.

Course language: German (lecture); slides in English

The corresponding bibliography and further information on the course can be found in the course catalogue ("Modulhandbuch", German only).

Course material as well as a detailed course syllabus will be provided on the Virtual Campus. The access code will be communicated in the course of the first lecture and may be requested by email.

Registration and deregistration for the exam online via FlexNow! during the official registration period of the Faculty for Social Sciences, Economics, and Business Administration.