Advanced Corporate Finance and Modeling

Duration

30h Th

Number of credits

Lecturer

Marie Lambert

Language(s) of instruction

English language

Organisation and examination

Teaching in the first semester, review in January

Schedule

Schedule online

Units courses prerequisite and corequisite

Prerequisite or corequisite units are presented within each program

Learning unit contents

The course builds on foundational knowledge in Corporate Finance to prepare finance professionals for making complex, strategic financial decisions.

The program is structured in three parts:

• Advanced Theories of Corporate Finance: The course starts by exploring Corporate Finance theories such as theories on capital structure, signalling, as well as the theory of (the ownership of) the firm, and the agency theory. These theories are illustrated through practical case discussions on debt signalling, leveraged recapitalization, and Environmental Social Governance activism.
• Advanced Valuation Techniques: The course then addresses valuation in specific contexts, including growth options and venture capital valuation.
• Mergers and Acquisitions: This module examines a range of transactions such as domestic M&As, leveraged buyouts, and cross-border acquisitions.

• students with modeling tools and advanced techniques for capital budgeting and firm and equity valuation;
• students with tools to conduct a fundamental analysis (due diligence) about one company;
• students with an opportunity to develop a thorough understanding of how financing as well as the firm's dividend policy could affect the market value of the firm and distort investment decisions;
• students with tools to design sound corporate strategies at each point of the firm financing cycle (leveraged recapitalization, leveraged buyout, management buyout);
• students with a detailed analysis of available financing sources (senior vs. junior debt, mezzanine, bullet, Paid-In-Kind instruments, club deals vs. syndication, etc.) to structure an acquisition;
• students with modeling tools to structure a private equity or M&A deal.
• students with the expertise required to evaluate and execute investment decisions in a global financial environment.

Learning outcomes of the learning unit

Consistent with the Key Learning Outcomes, students will acquire the following capacities at the end of the Advanced Corporate Finance and Modeling course:

• They will strengthen their knowledge and understanding in firm performance management and corporate finance and use modeling tools to design creative solutions to value an investment project or to structure the acquisition of a firm/the financing of one specific project;
• They will develop their ability to professionally team work and their critical sense for implementing solutions to a selection of key corporate finance challenges for managers;
• They will use modeling tools and their managerial knowledge to execute the solution;
• They will adapt their managerial practice to the economic context and to the transversal nature of management problems by integrating autonomously researched information
• They will professionally communicate and defend, in groups or individually and in English, their transversal view of real financial management problems.

Prerequisite knowledge and skills

The course will extend students' knowledge in corporate finance acquired during an initial bachelor's degree and/or the first year of the master in management. Basics of corporate finance are prerequisites for the course.

 

Students who need to acquire the prerequisites are invited to read the following chapters:

- Accounting statements and cash flows: working knowledge of key financial statements, i.e. income statement, balance sheet and cash flow statement 
Please read Chapters 2 and 3 - Ross, Westerfield and Jaffe. 2008. Corporate Finance. New York: McGraw-Hill, 8th edition;

- Basics in capital budgeting: working knowledge of discounting/compounding, of Net Present Value (NPV) and Internal Rate of Return (IRR) concepts
Please read Chapters 4 to 7 - Ross, Westerfield and Jaffe. 2008. Corporate Finance. New York: McGraw-Hill, 8th edition;

- Firm valuation: working knowledge of the discounted cash flow method and the multiple analysis. Please refer to  Equity Asset Valuation, CFA Institute Investment Series, Wiley

- Mean-variance analysis: working knowledge of the Capital Asset Pricing Model (CAPM)
Please read Chapter 5 - Hillier, Grinblatt and Titman. 2012. Financial Markets and Corporate Strategy. New York: McGraw-Hill, 2nd European edition.

Planned learning activities and teaching methods

Modules will be sequenced with lectures and discussions on a selection of case studies illustrating corporate financial decisions.


Lectures will introduce the theoretical concepts and modeling/analytical tools, while case studies and workshops with corporate finance professionals will enable students to use these tools to solve complex management problems.

 

 

Mode of delivery (face to face, distance learning, hybrid learning)

Face-to-face course


Further information:

The course is composed of (face-to-face or exceptionally online) lectures, exercise sessions, case discussions, computer labs and workshops with professionals.

Exercise sessions and case study analyses might need to be prepared through distance learning. Pariticipation and attendance to case studies and workshops is mandatory.

Course materials and recommended or required readings

Platform(s) used for course materials:
- LOL@


Further information:

Platform(s) used for course materials:
- LOL@


Further information:

Platform(s) used for course materials:
- LOL@


Further information:

Platform(s) used for course materials:
- LOL@


Further information:

Platform(s) used for course materials:
- LOL@


Further information:

Platform(s) used for course materials:
- LOL@


Further information:

Platform(s) used for course materials:
- LOL@


Further information:

Platform(s) used for course materials:
- LOL@


Further information:

Platform(s) used for course materials:
- LOL@


Further information:

Mandatory readings (course material) 
 

The course material (slides, references to case studies and exercises) will be available on the course web page on lol@


Students will have to acquire some case studies on the Harvard website (link will be provided on the student learning platform).




Recommended readings from the following books might be assigned during the class:



- Grinblatt and Titman, Financial Markets and Corporate Strategy, McGraw-Hill, International Edition

- Real Options: Managerial Flexibility and Strategy in Resource Allocation, Lenos Trigeorgis

 

- Equity Asset Valuation Workbook, 3rd Edition
by Jerald E. Pinto, Elaine Henry, Thomas R. Robinson, John D. Stowe
November 2015, Paperback

 

- Damodaran, Investment valuation

 

- Ludovic Phalippou (Professeur à Oxford), Private Equity Laid Bare 








Students are highly encouraged to refer to these books to improve their understanding of the key concepts and modelling tools used throughout the class. 

Exam(s) in session

January exam session

- In-person

written exam ( open-ended questions )

August-September exam session

- In-person

oral exam

Written work / report

Continuous assessment


Further information:

First session exam in January

- Written exam: 70%

- Continuous case/workshop participation and case preparation: 30%

Only absence duly justified ahead of the class (min. 1 hour before class) with a medical certificate will be considered as excused. In case the student is (officially) excused for more than two graded case studies or workshops, his/her exam will count for 100% the grade.

 

Retake exam (August)

- oral exam 70%


- Student's continuous evaluation:  30%

Either the student's class participation during the course

Or, for students who did not participate to class case discussions or failed in their continuous class grade, a take-home assignment  

Work placement(s)

none

Organisational remarks and main changes to the course

Participation to case discussions, computer labs, and workshops with professionals is mandatory. A tentative schedule will be communicated at the first class.

Students are invited to regularly check the lol@ platform for announcements regarding the course

 

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The course structure and content have been entirely revised for the academic year 2025-2026 to integrate more corporate finance theories and to broaden the scope of the advanced topics covered. The evaluation methods have also been revised.

Contacts

Professor:
Marie Lambert - marie.lambert@uliege.be
Teaching assistant:
Alexandre Scivoletto - Alexandre.Scivoletto@uliege.be


 

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