Friday, May 29, 2020

First Visit to a foreign country Essay - 275 Words

First Visit to a foreign country (Essay Sample) Content: Name:Instructor:Course:Institution:First Visit to a foreign country Summer holidays are my favorite. This was one of a kind. Being the type that loves adventure and new places, the excitement was overwhelming. It was a class trip based on a travel unit in my course. This one was surely going to break my travel record. The first airplane ride was quite an experience too. I was one little jumping jackrabbit. The long departure queues and the sound of other planes taking off got me too eager for our turn. I wouldnt have thought that take off would be sickening. It felt like one of those falling dreams where one wakes up at mid-air. But I smiled, the sky was beautiful. Nothing was as solid as the excitement and anxiety combined. After the long flight we land at Roissy-Charles de Gaulle Airport in Paris. I felt a slight tingle in my stomach as we headed for the luggage claim. The place was beautiful with marble floors, flowers and was nicely lit. There were plenty of eage r tourists in bunches of their own similar foreign languages. Most of the writings on boards, pamphlets, magazines, receipts, even on the taxis were in French. My little knowledge would come in handy after all. I was in France, the most visited country in the world. Being a tourism student, I coincidentally had an outgoing character too. (The course was not a first choice anyway). The visit proved that a group-tour wasnt a disadvantage at all. We still had a variety of superb hotel rooms. French was all the housekeepers and other hotel workers spoke unless of course they realized you evidently had no idea on what they meant. Hospitality was at a high. Our first meal was partly fried steak with garnish made of a variety of vegetables I cant name. It was well-presented alongside grille...

Saturday, May 16, 2020

Study On The Us Stores Takeover Of Morrisons Finance Essay - Free Essay Example

Sample details Pages: 6 Words: 1720 Downloads: 8 Date added: 2017/06/26 Category Business Essay Type Research paper Did you like this example? The US Stores market performance is unsatisfied. The share price and P/E ratio of the firm have been dropping. The company intends to carry out a strategy to expand world-wide markets by acquiring a major UK retailer. Don’t waste time! Our writers will create an original "Study On The Us Stores Takeover Of Morrisons Finance Essay" essay for you Create order Merger and acquisition is one of the approaches to achieve the corporate strategies, such as expanse the market share and proportion of products. In this takeover proposal, the motives for US Stores takeover are investigated from different aspects. The fair valuation of quasi-acquired company is evaluated to determine the maximum offer price. Finally, the proposal investigates the corporate takeover bids and methods of payment. Introduction The US Stores market performance is not satisfactory. The share price and P/E ratio of the firm have been dropping. The corporate strategy is to expand world-wide markets by acquiring a major UK retailer. Merger and acquisition is one of the approaches to achieve corporate strategies, such as expanse the market share and proportion of products. Other strategies, such as organic growth, establishment of joint ventures, and co-alliance, among which I suggest MA, because it provides an economic way to entry the European market and acquisition activity is a efficient growth mechanism in the retail industry. One major UK retailer has been chosen as the target company, considering the following reasons: 1) from the global perspective, British retailers generally have moderate or small size; 2) ownership and management are concentrated; 3) domestic market oriented; and 4) excellent cash earning ability. This takeover proposal is structured as below. Section 2 refers to the motives f or US Stores takeover. Section 3 describes the valuation of a quasi-acquired company. Finally, section 4 investigates the corporate takeover bids and methods of payment. Motivation The scale of cross-border merger is growing significantly during the 1990s, which aided by globalization and deregulation in the last two decades. By summarizing the previous literatures, Berkovitch and Narayanan (1993) category plenty of hypotheses into three major groups: the synergy motive, the agency motive, and hubris motives. Besides, the motivation of cross-border merger in retail industry has its own characteristics. 1) Synergies The primary motivation in taking over UK retailer is to achieve synergies. It is defined as the reactions that take place when two elements combine together to produce a more significant effect than the sum of the effects of two parts (Gaughan, 2007).An empirical investigation made by Berkovitch and Narayanan (1993) summarizes that the synergy motive suggests that takeovers occur because of economic gains that result by merging the resources of the two firms. Friedrich Trauiwein (1990) proposes an efficiency theory, which suggests that shareholders of the bidder will benefit from MA through synergies. It is believed that US Stores takeover project will enhance its operating and financial economies of scale and increase its market shares and market image. 2) Market Extension Taking over a firm in the same industry will result in an increase in its market share and consequently have a crucial impact on the bidders market power (Gaughan, 2007). Robert S. Stillman (1983) argues that, according to a more concentrated industry, the product prices may raise after horizontal mergers, which brings about an increase of bidders equity values. Consequently, the firms share value in the affected industry will increase. Trauiweins monopoly theory defines mergers and acquisition as being executed and projected to obtain a market power. According to this theory, the US Stores Inc can aim at simultaneously limiting competition in more than one market. The prospects of US Stores growth opportunity in North America is unoptimistic, and takeover a major UK retailer which can provide an efficient entry to European retail market and the chance of expanding its global market power is an sensible corporate growth strategy . 3) Growth US Stores takes a strategy to expand its economic scale for the purpose of business growth. Expansion through MA is more efficient than internal organic growth. Merger and acquisition, which compared with internal organic growth, is a convenient way to control the trend of market production and consumption. MA is a very ordinary characteristic of modern business activity and MA form a primary motive force for the growth of firms (Michael Firth, 1979). 4) Management Motives Cross-border takeover creates numbers of new business opportunities (Healy et al. 1990, 23) and make the entrance to world-wide markets an easy way (Black, Carnes and Jandik, 2001). In addition, cross-border takeovers gain a effect on reputation enhancement, cost reduction, value maximization, earnings volatility reduction, and international diversification. Valuation The Selection of Target Company Wm Morrison Supermarkets plc is the fourth largest chain of supermarkets in the United Kingdom. Morrisons market share is at 11.8%. We choose Morrisons as our Target Company, rather than Sainsbury plc or Marks and Spencer plc, according to the following factors: First, Under-leveraged companies are attractive targets since the bidder can issue debt to finance its takeover. Shown from the table below, the D/E ratio of Sainsbury and MS is 129% and 258% separately, which is significantly higher than Morrisons. The Sainsbury pension fund is a big liability, which will prevent Sainsbury from being acquired to some extent. Secondly, companies which have adequate amounts of cash and liquid assets will be potential takeover targets, because the bidder can payoff its costs with the target companys liquid assets once obtain the control power. According to the of Morrisons annual report and financial statement, the cash from operating activities increased by  £208m (24%) which refl ects the strong profit generation of the Group from increased turnover and good profit conversion, combined with cost control throughout the business and improved working capital management. Thirdly, the P/E ratio of Morrisons is lower than industry average P/E ratio. The EPS will increase if a company with higher P/E ratio takes over a company whose P/E ratio is lower. Fourthly, firms can be successfully acquired if they have a higher proportion of institutional shareholdings. The proportion of Morrisons private shareholders is much less than institutional shareholders. Assumption Beta: Assume Morrisons beta is 0.737, provided by Bloomberg web site, is reasonable. Bond price: Using Safeways bond yield as Morrisons bond price, which is 4.2%. The interest rate on 10-year government bond is 4.05%. Using CAMP to calculate Morrisons cost of equity. Taking 10-year government bond interest rate as risk-free rate. Assume that the market rate of return is 10.3%. According to Ibbotson Associates, the SP has returned an average of 10.3 percent a year. WACC: Using the the total market value of share capital as Morrisons total equity and market value of debt as total debt when calculate the cost of capital. Growth rate: Assume Morrisons growth rate is in line with 10-year government bond interest rate. When calculate the value of the firm, the cost of capital is the WACC. Assume that the FCF will grow at a constant rate. If US stores Inc purchases Morrisons, Morrisons sales will increase 2% per year faster than 4% for the next 5 years. Due to cost-saving s ynergies, the CoGS ratio will be reduced by 1% perpetually. Capex: the capital expenditure of 2009 is  £678m, which is much higher than its historical average level. Assume the capital expenditure is the average of recent three years. Capital expenditure = ( £678 m +  £410 m + £269 m) / 3 =  £425 m Taking the motivation for US Stores takeover, Morrisons corporate governance structure, and the side effects of hostile takeover into consideration, agreed bid is suggested. If the takeover of Morrisons fails to agree, the bidder should then go directly to the targets shareholders. In this case, a hostile takeover is going to be carried out. The market value of Morrisons is  ¿Ãƒâ€šÃ‚ ¡7825.972 m, the maximum premium on pre-bid price is 20%, and the maximum price US Stores willing to pay is  ¿Ãƒâ€šÃ‚ ¡9.391.166 m. There are five reasons to determine that friendly bid should be our choice: 1. The fair value of the firm plus the synergies is  £8519 m, which is not much higher than market value. The premium that range from 25% to 45% paid for a hostile takeover will offset the synergies. In this case, the long-term performance of the bidder will be affected by the value-decreasing. Signal effect: security offer and cash offer have different signaling implications. Literature on share-for-share offer shows a negative stock price reaction to new common stock offerings. Nickolaos G. Travlos (1987) show his result of an empirical study, which indicate that bidding firms suffer significant losses in pure stock exchange acquisitions, but they obtain normal returns in cash offers. According to Myers and Majluf model, the market participants regard a cash offer as good news and a share-for-share offer as bad news about the bidding firms fair value. Faccio and Masulis (2005) argue that when a security offer is made, the market interprets it as a signal that the shares are overvalued. In that case, the share price will drop. Announce ment effect: Similar to signal effect, security offer is associated with negative price movement after the announcement (Faccio and Masulis, 2005). Security offers become less attractive to US Stores as P/E ratio will drop down (Nickolaos G. Travlos, 1987). Cash offer is chosen as payment method and there will bring an increase in price-earnings ratios. Petzemas (2008) finds that cash payment acquisitions usually outperform stock payment acquisitions. The difficulties US Stores Inc faces are that the earnings are held up well, but the share price and P/E ratio have been dropping constantly. And the market prospect is not optimistic. In this situation, the cash offer signals a high valuation of the corporation (Fishman, 1989). In order to enhance its market share price and P/E ratio, the US Stores Inc is proposed to purchase by cash. Long-term Performance studied by Loughran and Vijh shows that thecash offer gains a positive long-term return and shares offer gains a negative ab normal return. The US Stores Inc cross-border acquisition is proposed for the following motivations: taking over UK retailer to achieve synergies; increase its market share and market power; for the purpose of business growth; and other management motivations. US Stores Inc choose Morrisons as its target among Sainsbury and MS by evaluating its leverage, assets liquidity and composition of shareholders. And valuate its cost of capital, fair value and synergy value. Taking the motivation for US Stores takeover, Morrisons corporate governance, and the side effects of hostile takeover into consideration, agreed bid is suggested. And depend on the bidders purpose and financial position, the target shareholders preference and market perceptions, payment in cash should be an appropriate method.

Wednesday, May 6, 2020

Stay-At-Home vs. Working Mothers - 743 Words

Husband: Honey is everything okay? Is this all that has been accomplished today, sitting on the couch watching T.V.? I wish that was my job everyday. Wife: Seriously? This is the first time I have been able to sit down all day! I got the children ready for school, made each child’s lunch, took them to school, had to fight the lines in Walmart just to get groceries, Abby forgot her backpack so I had to run it by the school, picked up the kids, ran Hunter to baseball practice, made supper, cleaned house, gave each child a bath, and then put them to bed. Now I am trying to take a breather and watch a T.V. show. Is that too much to ask? My job is never done unlike yours. Mothers play an important role in a child’s life. Whether it is being present when the baby takes their first step, or being in the crowd for the childs first recital. Two different types of mothers have evolved in society. One is a stay-at-home mother. These mothers take care of the children while the husband makes a living for the family. Working mothers go to work everyday to provide a living (like the husband), and are also expected to take care of t he children once home. Stay-At-Home mothers have many advantages against working mothers. First, Stay-At-Home mothers get to spend more time with the children. When being a Stay-At Home mother, the mother will most likely never miss anything in the childs’ life. The mother will see all of the â€Å"firsts†: walking, talking, crawling, etc. Once the child isShow MoreRelatedWorking Mother Vs. Stay-At-Home Mother1800 Words   |  8 Pagestheir home. Mothers have reasons for their choices, whether it’d be staying at home or continuing to work following the birth of their child; the choices they make can have different effects on everything around them, from the development of her child to their very own mental health. In the United States, financial necessity has been the general reason in which women have decided to work (Siegel and Hass 523). Many of us know how expensive raising a child can be which is why many mothers decideRead MoreChildren of Working Mothers vs. Stay At Home Mothers and Their Effects1102 Words   |  5 PagesChildren of Working Mothers vs. Stay At Home Mothers and Their Effects Looking back at the past there have been women struggling for equal rights throughout the United States of America this includes the right to work or stay at home with their children. Ever since women started working the argument has been forthcoming over mothers who work and those who stay home with their children. One concern is what differences, if any, are there in children who are raised by stay-at-home moms and working moms. ThisRead MoreCan Mothers Effectively Manage Work And Raising Children?1635 Words   |  7 PagesCan Mothers Effectively Manage Work and Raising children? Every mother’s priority is her children. Mothers’ ultimate goal is to watch their children growing and reaching the best developmental and emotional milestones in every stage of their lives, and they realize that they are the cornerstone to achieve this goal. They are more influential than the school and the entire surrounding community. And, they are willing to devote all their lives to their children and sacrifice everything to build aRead MoreGender Roles Are Ensuring For Children877 Words   |  4 Pagesseeing an increase of men staying home to take on some sort of car giving role whether it be for their children or family member. According to an article published by pewscoailthinktrends.org from 2014: â€Å"At-home fathers are twice as likely to lack a high school diploma as working fathers (22% vs. 10%). And almost half (47%) of stay-at-home fathers are living in poverty, compared with 8% of working fathers. This poverty figure is even higher than among stay-at-home mothers (34% of whom are in poverty)Read MoreStay at Home Moms vs. Working Moms822 Words   |  4 Pages Staying at Home Mom vs. Working Mom Many women have careers before they began their family. But once the first child arrives, it is time to decide whether to be a stay-at-home mom or to go back to work. There are many factors that go into this decision and it is different for every family. Making a decision to stay at home with the children or join the workforce can be a difficult process. I have been fortunate to experience being a stay-at-home mom for three years. I’ve comeRead MoreHow Working Moms And Dads1133 Words   |  5 PagesGrowing up, I always dreamt of being a wonderful mother and wife. I want to be a woman that works hard and also takes cares of her responsibilities. Coming up is seemed like the right thing for a mom to be home taking care of the children while The Father is at work. As life goes on the roles have switched. What used to be traditional is no longer traditional. In a Modern day family, Either the mother works while dad is home, maybe there is no dad, or maybe both parents work. Toda y’s American familiesRead MoreBenefits of Being a Working Mother Essay1099 Words   |  5 PagesMen and women are working harder than ever to survive in todays tough economy. Its a big challenge for low and middle class families to survive. To meet growing demands, its getting difficult for families to depend on one income. To contribute to family income, mothers are coming forward and joining the workforce. Working mothers are the one who takes care of the family and work outside the home. They may be a single mothers or married mothers. Working mothers usually work to support their familyRead MorePositive And Negative Influences Of Working And Stay At Home Mothers On Children1409 Words   |  6 PagesInfluences of Working and Stay-At-Home Mothers on Children Are children better off if mothers stay at home to take care of them? Recently, whether mother should stay home taking care of children or work as normal have been argued a lot, Some mothers may rather choose stay at home and take the traditional homemaker role. Others may prefer to work outside home to meet her full personal potential. There can be both positive and negative effects of working mothers on their children. While working mothers canRead MoreStudent Readiness And Academic Achievement1522 Words   |  7 PagesDegree of School Readiness in Kindergarten Students from Families with a Stay-at-Home-Mom vs. Families with a Working Mom Rebecca L. Mullins University of Texas at Tyler July 2016 While all forms of parental involvement in a child’s education are recognized for their individual importance and merit, for the purposes of this study, we are particularly interested in parental involvement as it relates to academic achievement and school readiness of first time Kindergarten studentsRead MoreWorking Mom Vs Stay At Home Mom Essay939 Words   |  4 PagesWorking Mom Vs Stay At Home Mom By Lisa Carsrud | Submitted On November 29, 2010 Recommend Article Article Comments 1 Print Article Share this article on Facebook 2 Share this article on Twitter 1 Share this article on Google+ Share this article on Linkedin Share this article on StumbleUpon Share this article on Delicious Share this article on Digg 1 Share this article on Reddit Share this article on Pinterest Expert Author Lisa Carsrud Whether you know it or not, there is a great underground

Tuesday, May 5, 2020

Cold Spring Harbor Perspectives in Biology

Question: Doiscuss about the patient who was asymptomatic right after the spleenectomy? Answer: Discussion In the case discussed, the patient was asymptomatic right after the spleenectomy. After few weeks, symptoms of sepsis appeared. Spleenectomy was important in this case because injuries sustained after the accident depended on the spleenectomy (Kristinsson, 2013). 1st Discussion Post The wound sustained after the spleenectomy was the origin of the septic, which led to the flared up discomfort and health issues. The wound became the breeding ground for infectious microorganisms. Replication in Prokaryotes and Eukaryotes is different. RNA primers in prokaryotes are longer than RNA primers in eukaryotes, some additional proteins are present during eukaryotic replication, eukaryotes have multiple replication origins, regulation of and there is another difference between the telomeres. The ends of the DNA are known as telomeres, replicating them is the problem. While the leading strand can be copied easily, the lagging strand is not easy to copy. In case of eukaryotes there is an overhang which cannot be avoided. Another problem is that after every round of cell division the DNA is shortened. The length of telomeres is different in Prokaryotes and eukaryotes. Eukaryotes also have a distinct process for replicating telomeres. 2nd Discussion Post Telomeres are an integral part of replication. But the role of telomere is different in prokaryotes and eukaryotes. The lengths are small and replication procedure is different (Strzyz, 2016). Homologous recombination is a process in which similar nucleotide chains or sequences are exchanged between identical DNA molecules (Jasin Rothstein, 2013). 3rd Discussion Post The proteins for homologues recombination in prokaryotes are different from the proteins for homologous recombination in eukaryotes. References Jasin, M., Rothstein, R. (2013). Repair of strand breaks by homologous recombination.Cold Spring Harbor perspectives in biology,5(11), a012740. Kristinsson, S. Y., Gridley, G., Hoover, R. N., Check, D., Landgren, O. (2013). Long-term risks after splenectomy among 8,149 cancer-free US veterans: a cohort study with up to 27 years follow-up.Haematologica, haematol-2013. Strzyz, P. (2016). DNA replication: Rif1 times replication.Nature Reviews Molecular Cell Biology.