Course 2026-2027 a.y.

• Corporate value creation and related strategies.
• Indicators and metrics of corporate value.
• The meaning and construction of the Strategic Plan.
• The sustainability variable and the impact of ESG factors on business valuation.
• The strategic meaning of using the Discounted Cash Flow (DCF) method to calculate corporate value.
• Applied analyses of the Financial Method — DCF.
• ESG Rating in the application of the DCF method: expected future cash flows, risk and rates.
• Checks on business valuation and its result: the Multiples Method.
• Corporate portfolio strategy: M&A and divestments.
• Valuation in special situations

• Correctly identify the principle of value creation.
• Understand certain intrinsic errors in indicators widely used in the market.
• Describe the process leading to a correct business valuation.
• Understand the limited informational content of certain valuation methods used in practice.
• Appreciate the impact on value of the specific conditions that characterize the business.

• Describe the process leading to a correct business valuation from a strategic, ESG and financial perspective.
• Set up the choice among strategically relevant alternatives on a quantitative basis and perform the resulting valuation.
• Carry out sensitivity analyses on business plans in order to understand the impact on value of possible variability in the context.
• Understand whether a company is creating value and identify courses of action that can increase value.
• Understand the specific features of business valuations in different extraordinary transactions (acquisitions, mergers, demergers and contributions).
• Rationally set up any decision with a combined strategic, ESG and financial approach.

• Lectures
• Guest speaker's talks (in class or in distance)
• Practical Exercises

• Discuss real business cases drawn from personal experience, emphasizing the most relevant aspects and those that are most valuable from a teaching and learning perspective for analysis and valuation.
• Use guided critical incidents based on articles from leading national and international business and financial newspapers and magazines.
• Encourage students to take ownership of case and event discussions by supporting their arguments with data and insights drawn from both academic theory and professional practice.
• Explain how to access the various databases and software tools available, and how to extract the key inputs needed to conduct the analyses that underpin business valuation.

The written exam is based on a set of closed-ended and open-ended questions relating to the contents covered in class and included in the textbook, with the aim of understanding: 

• The rules underlying the creation and preservation of value.
• The effectiveness of a business model.
• Strategic and ESG analysis.
• The preparation of a feasible and sustainable prospective economic-financial plan.
• The setup of the valuation according to a correct approach.
• The control method: multiplier analysis.
• The relevance of the stock market price for listed companies. The relevance of disclosure and its impact on value.
• Other available valuation methods and their informational content.
• Business valuation in extraordinary transactions.

• T. Koller, M. Goedhart, D. Wessels, Valuation Measuring and Managing the Value of Companies, 8th Edition, Wiley, New York, 2025.
• Slides and presentations relating to each lesson, which are an integral part of the study program, published on the BlackBoard platform.