Accounting for Mergers and Acquisitions: Advanced Topics (Coursera)

Accounting for Mergers and Acquisitions: Advanced Topics (Coursera)

This course aims at assisting you in interpreting financial accounting information related to advanced issues in inter-corporate investments. The course will cover four main topics over four modules: (i) accounting for spinoffs and equity carveouts, (ii) accounting for leveraged buyouts and recapitalizations, (iii) tax considerations in inter-corporate investments, and (iv) financial statement analysis in the presence of inter-corporate investments.

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The course will be useful for students to understand complex organizational structures through the lens of financial accounting information and will benefit investors, analysts, bankers, consultants, managers, and any deal-makers.

Syllabus

WEEK 1
Course Orientation
Special Types of Divestitures
Acquirer firms may divest their investments in other firms in some exotic ways. In this module, you will explore two notable special divestitures: spinoffs and equity carveouts.

WEEK 2
Corporate Reorganizations
Acquirer firms may obtain the control of target firms in some exotic ways. In this module, you will explore two notable corporate reorganizations: leveraged buyouts (LBOs) and recapitalizations (RECAPs).

WEEK 3
Tax Considerations in Inter-Corporate Investments
Inter-corporate investments can result in special tax issues for target shareholders and target firms. In this module, you will explore taxable versus tax-free transactions, step-ups versus carryovers, deferred taxes, and miscellaneous acquisition-related tax issues including loss trafficking and goodwill taxation.

WEEK 4
Financial Statement Analysis (FSA) with Inter-Corporate Investments
Financial statement analysis (FSA) builds models to evaluate past position and predict future performance of a firm using financial statements. In this module, you will explore FSA in the presence of inter-corporate investments and calculation of organic versus acquired growth.

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