Advanced corporate finance

The course aims at providing students with theoretical knowledge and practical skills on selected concepts in corporate finance. Special attention will be devoted to how companies make sophisticated investment decisions and to how investors apply advanced valuation techniques. Students will learn how market imperfections (such as taxes, financial distress and agency costs) influence companies' optimal capital structure and payout policies, and eventually affect company value. Moreover, the concept of options will be introduced and used to include real options in sophisticated capital budgeting processes. The course will have a strong practical components, based on numerical exercises and review of real case studies.

By the end of the course, the students will be able to:
· Illustrate how market imperfections influence capital structure
· Include different capital structures in capital budgeting decisions and in companies' valuation
· Evaluate real options and include them in capital budgeting decisions