About the Class

The goal of firms is to create value through strategic decisions. Valuation techniques provide managers and market participants with the tools to evaluate and measure the effect of strategic decisions on firm value. In practice valuation is challenging because it requires modelling the future. These challenges are exacerbated in industries undergoing change due to new technologies or changing consumer behavior. We will consider these challenges focusing on the newspaper industry where the traditional business model has been disrupted by digital media, and by focusing on emerging industries like mobile apps and social network companies where it is difficult to apply traditional valuation techniques.

In this session, Prof Kasper Meisner Nielsen will use a Harvard Business School case "Buffett's Bid for Media General's Newspapers" to discuss:

• Basic valuation tools and techniques
• Practical application of valuation to business cases
• Warren Buffett’s decision to invest in the newspaper industry in 2014
• Valuation of apps and social network companies
• What you can (and cannot) learn about business cases from valuation technique

There will be an introduction to MSGF program during the Sample Class.

Confirmed participants will be given the "Buffett's Bid for Media General's Newspapers" case in advance and are required to review the case prior to attending the class.