As you can see, the rest of this course we'll shift our focus to how the firm
interacts with the broader marketplace.
In this, the second module,
we'll consider how the firm approaches its decision to finance its assets.
And ultimately, how it provides returns to shareholders.
This external focus will continue as we shift into the next module to the broader
issue of external investment via mergers and acquisitions, as well as the related
issue of divestment in external markets through corporate restructuring.
The final module in this course then, considers the external instruments that
are available to firms to enable them to manage their own risk,
but let's not get in front of ourselves.
The focus today is squarely on raising capital and distributing profits.
Specifically, we're going to run through the nuts and
bolts of a firm's decision to float on a public exchange.
We'll then shift our attention to the widespread problem
of trying to set a price for an asset, a share that has never been traded.
The third session then considers in-depth the impact of introducing debt on
the returns to shareholders and of the firm, which lead
naturally into a discussion of how firms ultimately choose between debt and equity.
We conclude this module by canvassing the issues raised when firms confront
the question, what proportion of earnings should be returned to shareholders and
what proportion should be retained within the firm?
Now this promises to be an action packed module, so get yourself comfortable
-not too comfortable- and let's get started!
