Hi!

It's been a while since the last post.. but then it is also time for New year Resolutions, and this new year my resolution is to blog regularly .. no matter what!

The block III that started on a rather good note.. just finishing our party at Simon's we plunged into Corporate finance.. a subject that excites me…

Valuation of companies is really what I was looking for and this course by Prof. Pascal Gantenbein was really the one for me. Terms like DCF, LBO, WACC and blah blah all that mystery and "geek talk" surrounding these terms was finally uncovered..

What adds spice to the curry is that we had three company events as part of the course.. First was UBS with a Valuation workshop, wherein we analysed a hostile takeover situation on a recent M&A they advised. The second was another workshop with the Corporate finance guys at Mckinsey wherein we saw the application of the Mckinsey valuation hexagon in unlocking value in an organization.. in this case the merger of a leading FMCG company and the leading men's personal products firm.

The third was a talk on the M&A sector with JP Morgan execs from London. We discussed the M&A trends, role of private equity and also tried to do some crystal gazing about what the future holds in store for these sectors.. and with subprime being the flavor of the season we had a real juicy discussion on that issue too.

The various approaches of evaluating companies have been eye openers for me as a person.. and I'm now.. simply put.. enriched J !

I feel like I can now start making music out of numerals and figures out of company annual reports and earnings forecasts.. and the drab black and white print in the FT and WSJ about takeovers and PEs … Chryslers and the KKRs sound like an orchestra in concert!

Man! In the third block managerial economics opened up a new dimension for me .. and in this block it has been the corporate finance course which has added a new perspective and dimension…

What is most important for me as an individual is that all these wonderful courses and discussions that have added new dimensions to my personality and opened a plethora of pathways for me.. in turn have reaffirmed my decision to take up the MBA. The more concepts that I encounter.. the more I feel happy to have opted for an MBA… Had I not taken up the MBA .. I would have very clearly missed a whole lot in my life!

Stuart