This course is designed to provide the tools necessary to understand and analyze corporate merger and acquisition (M&A) activities, restructuring, as well as corporate governance issues in the M&A context. Specifically, this course aims to:

1. Introduce background knowledge and practical issues in mergers and acquisitions (M&A) and related transactions.
2. Practice valuation techniques related to M&A and related transactions.
3. Explore economic theories, and anecdotal and empirical evidence related to M&A and related transactions.
4. Develop analytical frameworks capable of forming critical opinions about proposed M&A or related transactions, and historical M&A or related events.
5. Provide necessary preparation for students to develop expertise on M&A or related transactions in a particular industry or business sector of interest.

Along the way students will further develop writing, analytical/computational, and database skills. An important part of the course is two group projects designed to develop students’ abilities and skills to discover and innovate. In the first project, students propose a merger involving two actual companies, one of which must be a company operating in Hong Kong or mainland China. In the second project, students analyze a recent merger or restructuring transaction involving a company in Hong Kong or China. These projects are designed to provide an opportunity for students to: a) apply all tools that they have learned in this course and b) learn the data available to investors for analyzing companies.