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FM350: Advanced Corporate Finance

Subject Area: Finance

Course details

  • Department
    Department of Finance
  • Application code
    SS-FM350
Dates
Session oneNot running in 2025
Session twoNot running in 2025
Session threeOpen - 4 Aug 2025 - 22 Aug 2025

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Applications are open

We are accepting applications. Apply early to avoid disappointment.

Overview

This highly interactive course covers advanced theoretical and applied corporate finance, allowing you to understand how senior managers determine whether to pursue large capital investments and fund strategic projects.

Exploring advanced theories used to understand financial markets in the context of corporate borrowing and lending, you will discuss financing frictions that differentiate the functioning of perfect and imperfect capital markets. You will then build on these theories to understand security design and the process of security issuance in equity markets. By applying the course material you will evaluate corporate risk management and hedging, understand the role of corporate control, and the interaction of control rights and cash flow rights.

Using real-world case studies, including American Home Products, Midland Corporation, and Mercury Athletic, the second part of the course will focus on the applications of corporate finance tools. Each week, you will explore particular issues facing practitioners including capital budgeting, the design of optimal capital structures, the valuations of start-ups, mergers, and private equity buyouts. By the end of the course, you will be able to apply advanced theoretical models of corporate finance to perform corporate valuations, prepare capital budgets and determine optimal capital structures.

Key information

Prerequisites: Finance (to the level of FM250) or introductory microeconomics (to the level of EC101).

Level: 300 level. Read more information on levels in our FAQs

Fees: Please see Fees and payments

Lectures: 36 hours

Classes: 18 hours

Assessment: Two written examinations

Typical credit: 3-4 credits (US) 7.5 ECTS points (EU)

Please note: Assessment is optional but may be required for credit by your home institution. Your home institution will be able to advise how you can meet their credit requirements. For more information on exams and credit, read Teaching and assessment

Is this course right for you?

This course is suitable if you already have an introductory background in corporate finance or microeconomics and would like to advance your strategic and financial decision-making skills using cutting-edge corporate finance theory.

It is especially well suited if you are targeting a career in finance including private equity, hedge funds, or would like to move into a strategic management role within a firm. 

Outcomes

  • Understand the interaction between financial and strategic decisions and how corporate finance theory can be used to make capital investment decisions
  • Work with modern valuation tools and apply them to assess the value of projects and companies
  • Understand how modern theoretical developments in finance and strategy can be applied using real financial data
  • Prepare capital budgets, and determine optimal capital structures using real world case studies

Content

Prakhar Singhania, India

The Spark session allowed me to gain new skills, particularly digital skills, that will help me further my finance career.

Faculty

The design of this course is guided by ÐÓ°ÉÂÛ̳ faculty, as well as industry experts, who will share their experience and in-depth knowledge with you throughout the course.

Juanita Gonzalez-Uribe

Dr Juanita Gonzalez-Uribe

Associate Professor of Finance

Ashwini Agrawal

Dr Ashwini Agrawal

Associate Professor of Finance

Department

The ÐÓ°ÉÂÛ̳ Department of Finance is devoted to excellence in teaching and research in the full range of the subfields of finance including corporate finance, asset pricing theory, risk management, empirical analysis of capital markets, behavioural finance, portfolio analysis, derivatives pricing, microstructure and financial econometrics.

The Department of Finance (formerly part of the Department of Accounting and Finance) has grown in recent years to become one of the largest and most highly-regarded finance groups in the UK and Europe. It is closely associated with the ÐÓ°ÉÂÛ̳'s Financial Markets Group and Systemic Risk Centre which regularly host a wide variety of seminars, conferences and public addresses by leading academics and practitioners.

With over 200 post-graduate students selected from a pool of top applicants world-wide, a faculty recruited from the top departments internationally, and a steady flow of distinguished visitors, we have a stimulating environment for research and learning that is on par with the best in the world.

Apply

Applications are open

We are accepting applications. Apply early to avoid disappointment.