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In October, the CEO of JPMorgan Chase & Co., is preparing for the company's 2010 Q3 earnings conference call and wondering how to address the inevitable questions related to financial reform. It has been just over two months since the Dodd-Frank Financial Reform and Consumer Protection Act (Dodd-Frank Act) had been passed, and there was still much uncertainty as to how JPMorgan should address the reforms. JPMorgan had reported stronger than expected EPS in the third quarter, but analysts were more concerned about what strategic initiatives the CEO would implement in response to the Dodd-Frank Act. The act had introduced wide-ranging and industry-changing reforms that were aimed primarily at fully integrated financial institutions such as JPMorgan. While most of the rulemaking would be forthcoming from regulatory authorities, the CEO knew it would be best to address these issues immediately to protect shareholders by avoiding uncertainty.

Bob O'Connell, CFO of General Motors, is considering a variety of equity alternatives to fund a large shortfall over the next couple of years. His tasks are to map out a financing strategy for the long term and to choose the equity instrument to be issued immediately. Of particular interest to O'Connell is a new security called PERCS (preferred equity redemption cumulative stock).

An estimate of the fair rate of return on capital is a critical input into tariff regulation. A too high estimate will lead to high tariffs for consumers; a too low estimate will not provide adequate incentives for investment. The Airport Economic Regulatory Authority of India has issued a consultation paper for finalizing the norms and procedure for estimating the fair rate of return. It now needs to reconcile the differing view and approaches of different stakeholders.

Arvind Mills incurred a loss of Rs.316 crores in the year 1999-2000 after a period of declining profits in spite of increasing sales. In January 2001 lenders to Arvind Mills received the Information Memorandum on Debt Restructuring which offered several alternative schemes. They had to decide whether they should accept the proposal and if they accept which specific scheme they should choose.

After studying and analysing this case, students would be able to evaluate and understand the importance and need of an infrastructure sector in a country, its inherent risks and scope of infrastructure investment and financing in India – National Infrastructure Pipeline and the important role of Non-Banking Finance Company’s (NBFC) vis-à-vis banks in infrastructure financing in India; critically analyse and recommend alternative decisions in a business problem situation using multi-criteria decision analysis, which is a tool used for business portfolio analysis; understand and evaluate the corporate portfolio management (CPM) tools used for an optimum portfolio mix to turn around companies; identify and suggest an optimum portfolio mix to turn around a finance company using CPM assessment applied to Pidun matrix; and recommend operational and strategic levers for successful turnaround implementation by using the integrated canvas on turnaround.

On 10 May 2020, in New Delhi, India, J. Ray took charge as a full-time director of an Indian Non-Banking Finance Company – Infrastructure Finance Company (NBFC-IFC). The NBFC-IFC of the Indian Government extended long-term financial assistance to infrastructure projects in India. During the financial year (FY) 2017–2018 till FY 2019–2020, the company suffered substantial losses to the tune of US$13.7bn, with profitability experiencing a notable decline – return on assets at a negligible 0.11% and return on equity of only 0.68%.

The NBFC-IFC had a declining yield on advances at 7.05%, net interest margins (NIMs) of 2.08% against a high cost of borrowing at 7.66%, a declining loan book (by 4.35%) of US$336.27bn and a fast-deteriorating asset quality with highest ever non-performing assets (NPAs) at 19.70% of its loan book. Such financial parameters, compared with that of the industry average of banks and finance companies, meant that the NBFC-IFC Ray had taken over was fast bleeding and was on the brink of being declared a sick company. In comparison, private and other government players had profitable and much healthier financials, and Ray felt that there was a need for improvement. To make things worse, Ray got to know that the Indian Government was in the final stages of setting up a new development finance institution focused on long-term infrastructure financing in India. Ray realized the question was not only of the NBFC-IFC remaining relevant but also of its existence in the fast-evolving sector. Ray wondered what could his his integrated canvas be for a turnaround strategy that could include effective management of an optimal portfolio mix.

With a healthy capital-to-risk (weighted) assets ratio of 30.85% and a satisfactorily improved net worth of US$103.1bn, in the given Reserve Bank of India regulatory provisions for the NBFC-IFC including restrictive exposure norms and NBFC-IFC’s operational mandate prescribed by the Indian Government, Ray had to shift the product and sectorial investment of the NBFC-IFC to reduce the NPAs, increase loan book size and improve the yield of advances and its NIM to effectively turn around the company’s profitability. Ray realized that he needed his team to evaluate and select a product and sector strategy for this change.

The present case of financing investment in infrastructure is interesting for implementation in developing economies because a lack of infrastructure is a common problem and there is a necessity of achieving a more developed infrastructure system to support accelerated economic growth in these countries. This case can be used in elective courses on corporate finance strategy and corporate portfolio management for infrastructure finance companies. This case can be taught in elective courses in post-graduate and MBA programs. This case can also be included in management development programs (MDP), executive MBA programs and executive-level courses that have subjects such as corporate finance strategy, corporate portfolio management and strategy management that focus on turnaround strategies including portfolio management for banks and finance companies.

Teaching notes are available for educators only.

CSS 11: Strategy.

This case provides an opportunity to discuss the design and implementation of a Public Private Partnership project. It describes the Delhi Airport Metro Express Line project from conception to completion, and the subsequent dispute between the Public and Private partners leading to the Concession Agreement going into arbitration. Students discuss the reasons for failure and come up with suggestions for another metro rail project currently in the design stage.

This case details the rise of a hard-disk storage manufacturer in the mid-1980s and the company's demise after executives manipulated the financial information.

Wildcat Capital Investors is a small real estate private equity company. Its MBA intern, Jessica Zaski, is asked to develop a financial model for the purchase of Financial Commons, a 90,000 square foot office building in suburban Chicago. By simple metrics, the property seems to be a good value, but with credit conditions tight, Jessica must consider whether outside investors would be comfortable with the risks of investing in the midst of a severe commercial real estate downturn. Wildcat is designed to give students exposure to both the quantitative and qualitative aspects of investing in commercial real estate through a private equity structure. Beyond the numbers, the case allows for a discussion of the process of finding suitable real estate investments. The importance of the simultaneous negotiations that Wildcat must have with the seller, the lender, and the outside investor can be emphasized.

By working through the financial models, students will take a given set of assumptions and analyze the cash flows expected to be received by the equity partners of Financial Commons. With a given deal structure, the students can then model the cash flow to both outside equity investors and Wildcat, learning the mechanics of private equity. The model will allow students to investigate how the variations in the underlying assumptions affect returns to the property and to the investors.

The case examines the financial and operational causes of business failure associated with Setco Automotive Ltd. an auto-clutch manufacturing company located in India and then proceeds to identify the key turn around factors which eventually led to Setco becoming the largest producer of clutches for medium and heavy vehicles in India. The case allows the participants to understand and evaluate the financial impact of turn around factors on the company's profitability and survivability and in also determining the optimal capital structure for a struggling company.

This case is based on the IPO of the first Infrastructure Investment Trust (InvIT) in India that was based on a portfolio of operating toll roads. InvIT enabled the construction company, which was also the sole equity investor, to release part of its equity to future toll road investments. The case describes the structure and functioning of the InvIT. It requires participants to assess its future potential for providing long term financing to not only toll roads but also other infrastructure projects.