MSc and Postgraduate Certificate in Professional Accountancy Global Issues for the Finance Professional [PAM100] Final Project (Study Session: January 2017) Submission Deadline:
Monday 19th June 2017 by 1pm (1300 hours) UK time.
UOLIA regulations require all submissions to adhere to this deadline. There will be no further extensions granted.
Please Note:
You are permitted only one opportunity to upload your coursework in the final submission area. Please make sure you upload the correct document, you have just one opportunity.
PART 1
This Part is weighted at 80% of marks available for this project assignment, contributing a maximum of 40% of the total marks available for this module.
There is one requirement in this Part. Your response to the requirement should be between 4,000 and 4,800 words. Penalties apply for exceeding the word count. No formal penalties apply for using fewer than 4,000 words but in so doing you may be penalizing yourself as it is likely to be challenging to respond to the requirement in less than 4,000 words. Part 2 contains group activity you participated in the 11th week. Write a brief on your learning 1000-1500 words. Failure to do so will result in a 5 mark penalty.
Context and Requirement
Context
In this module’s core materials, the author Dr Peter Clark refers to:
On page 306 in Topic 15 Introduction to Global Mergers and Acquisitions ...the process of exploring merger dynamics and the systematic pursuit of successful deals – along with avoidance of those mergers more likely to move towards the destruction of value....
On page 342 in Topic 16 Measuring Merger Success – The Acquirer’s Perspective ...Simply stated, the phrase ‘merger valuation’ (MergVal) refers to a systematic, standardised, codified and widely embraced (by the financial community at large) methodology for determining whether mergers are successful or not....
On page 376 in Topic 17 M&A Segmentation – Spotting Winning Mergers’ Critical Characteristics ...Most mergers fail. That recurring headline in articles and research papers is widely-accepted today and substantially supported....
Throughout the materials – core and readings - in Topics 15, 16 and 17, those materials identify and explore, amongst other matters, four alternative merger valuation methods, issues in determining acquisition purchase premium (APP), and the characteristics typifying successful merger/acquisitions (M&A), and by implication unsuccessful ones. There appears to be a plethora of experience and guidance to inform those tasked with preparing bids for and implementing mergers and acquisitions. And yet the consensus of opinion appears to be that most mergers fail.
Why might it be that these failures occur? Is it because of flawed valuation methods? Or because of a failure to recognise and deal with issues in determining APP? Or because of challenges connected to validity, or otherwise, of the characteristics of successful and unsuccessful mergers and acquisitions? Or indeed a degree of combination of these, perhaps along with other causes?
An understanding of the ingredients – good and not so - within the recipe for successful mergers and acquisitions could be considered as a desirable attribute of members of the community of finance professionals. Such understanding requires a recognition and critical analysis of the ingredients, resulting in consequential insights into how and why the systematic pursuit of successful deals does – and does not - materialise.
PART 1 Requirement
Taking account of the content of the Context section above:
1. Identify what should be taken into account – the ingredients - when formulating an M&A proposal, justifying such inclusion(s).
2. Identify and critique the nature of those ingredients regarding what they do and do not contribute to the systematic pursuit of successful deals.
3. Evaluate your considerations in 2 above, and draw conclusions.
4. Thereafter, draw upon your conclusions from 3 above to formulate an overall set of recommendations detailing, for those interested in pursuing a successful M&A journey, what they should take account of as they plan for such a journey.
Contextually, ensure that you include an introduction which sets the scene appropriately.
In responding to this requirement you should certainly refer to relevant MScPAcc core materials, including essential readings, as appropriate. You are encouraged to also draw upon other materials, as appropriate, from journal articles and/or business reports and/or news reports.
Please take careful note of the flowing points:
• Part 1’s focus is drawn from Topics 15, 16 and 17, although they are peripheral links with materials in prior topics and Topic 18. Your response to the requirement relating to Part 1 should be between 4,000 and 4,800 words.
• The submission deadline is Monday 19th June 2017 by 1pm (1300 hours) UK time.
• Any work received after the submission deadline will receive a recorded mark of zero. There will be no extensions given.
• No appendices (other than the list of references) are allowed.
• At the end of your response to each Part you should state your word count,
• Submitted coursework/project assignments are subject to a range of quality control and scrutiny checks including, as appropriate, double marking and/or moderation and/or scrutiny by the module’s Internal and/or External Examiners. All submitted coursework assignments are subject to Turnitin checking for plagiarism (see point 2 below on page 2). All results when first published are provisional until confirmed by the Examination Board.
• You can have a one-on-one session with the Lecturer for a final check before submission.