Team Assignment
Accounting 337
Team Assignment – Business
Combination Project
Spring Semester 2006
Objectives:
The
objectives of the assignment are
1.
to provide
exposure to the actual circumstances under which business combinations occur and
to demonstrate how textbook concepts are applied in the 'real world'
2.
to help you
develop the interpersonal/teamwork skills that you will need in the workplace
and to give you an opportunity to improve your written and oral communication
skills.
Description of assignment: Each group will select a recent or pending business combination and 1) prepare an oral presentation (approximately 15 minutes) to the class, summarizing and analyzing the event and 2) prepare a written summary of the project to be entered into each group member’s student portfolio.
The classroom computer and projector will be available if your team wants to use PowerPoint slides to support your presentation. The document camera is also available.
Resources: The resources to be used for this project are your Advanced Financial Accounting textbook and financial publications such as the Wall Street Journal that report on merger/acquisition activity and follow such transactions from their announcement. You also may wish to obtain annual reports for the companies involved. Annual reports of large corporations are available through the SEC's EDGAR data base which is accessible through the Internet. Many corporations include their annual reports in their corporate web sites. Corporate web sites are also excellent sources of information about mergers and acquisitions.
There is a merger calendar on Yahoo that may be helpful in identifying and selecting possible business combinations.
Grading: Individual
grades will be based on the project grade assigned by the instructor (class
presentation - 60 points; portfolio write-up - 20 points) and a peer evaluation
grade (20 points) assigned by other group members. The project grade will be
based on the following:
·
fulfillment
of the requirements
·
organization, content and quality of the class presentation
·
organization, content and quality of the portfolio summary, including grammar,
spelling, etc.
Due Dates:
Presentations:
Class presentations will be made on
Monday, April 17 and Wednesday, April 19 (with Wednesday,
April 12, if needed). On the date of the presentation,
the team should turn in (1) a printed copy of the team's PowerPoint slides
(handout format) or other visual aids used and (2) a bibliography.
Portfolio summary: The portfolio summary must be in each team member's portfolio by Friday, April 28 at 12:00 p.m. (noon). Late assignments will be penalized.
Suggestions for Organization and Content of Presentation:
The following suggestions are intended to help you start thinking about what to include in your presentation; they are not a set of absolute requirements. Your approach to the project will be different depending on whether the business combination you select is already completed or still pending. If you are writing about a merger that has already been completed, you will be able to follow the combination from its announcement through the completion of the transaction and its results. If the merger/acquisition you select is in progress, you should report on the events occurring through the due date of the assignment.
1. Briefly describe the companies ‑ What size are the companies involved? Where are they located? What are their primary products or lines of business?
2. What reasons are given for the merger/acquisition? What benefits does the combined entity expect?
3. Describe the acquisition process. How was (will) the combination (be) effected?
4. What was the reaction to the announcement of the business combination? For example, WSJ and/or other financial press, stock prices, stockholder reaction, etc? Is any government approval required for the combination?
5. From the information available, what are the financial reporting implications of the merger/acquisition? [For example: Is pro forma financial data presented? What amount of goodwill is recorded? Was the combination a statutory merger or a stock acquisition?]
6. For a combination in progress, what is the status of the combination as of the due date of the assignment? For a completed combination, what type of results has the combined company achieved?
Portfolio Assignment:
A written summary of the project is to be entered into your student portfolio. Details of the information to be included in the portfolio write-up are found in the portfolio assignment on-line at
http://portfolio.ilstu.edu/profport