COURSE NUMBER:  MBA 227B.1 *Cross-listed with EWMBA

COURSE TITLE: Taxes and Firm Strategy

UNITS OF CREDIT: 3 Units

INSTRUCTOR: Suneel Udpa

E-MAIL ADDRESS: <mailto:udpa@haas.berkeley.edu>udpa@haas.berkeley.edu

CLASS WEB PAGE LOCATION (HTTP URL): CATALYST

MEETING DAY(S)/TIME:  Wednesday, 6:00 p.m.-9:30 p.m.

PREREQUISITE(S): 202

CLASS FORMAT: Lecture, problem solving and case analysis

REQUIRED READINGS:  Textbook

BASIS FOR FINAL GRADE:

Class Particpation           15%
Case Analysis                 20%
Midterm (Take-home)       25%
Final (in-class)                40%

ABSTRACT OF COURSE'S CONTENT AND OBJECTIVES:

This course is appropriate for students interested in investment banking, corporate finance, mergers and acquisitions, and strategy consulting. The aim of this class is not to turn you into tax specialists. We will not focus on the myriad details and exceptions to the tax law.

The broad objective of this course is to provide you with a framework to analyze how taxes affect business activities -  financing, investing, and operating. You will learn to identify and exploit tax-planning opportunities, integrate tax strategy into corporate decision-making and structure various transactions to optimize after-tax cash flows.

Topics:

Compensation:
Stock options, deferred compensation, fringe benefits, and pensions

Organizational Form:
Corporate versus partnership organization, leasing,and licensing

Investments:
Stocks, bonds, annuities, real estate, and insurance

Corporate Capital Structure:
Debt versus equity, dividend policy, and ESOPs

Multinational Operations:
Investment and production location decisions and transfer pricing

Financial Innovation:
Debt and equity securities, swap contracts and derivative securities

Mergers and Acquisitions:
Mereger structure, tax-free spin-offs of subsidiaries, stock versus asset purchases, and survival of targets net operating losses

BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH:

Please refer to http://www.haas.berkeley.edu/faculty/udpa.html