This semester module is one of the three semester modules of the postgraduate program Treasury Management & Corporate Finance.
Semester module: Corporate Finance & Valuation at a glance
- Duration: 5 months – starting 5 September 2025
- 19 sessions on Thursdays from 15:30 - 17:30 and 18:00 - 20:00 with diner.
- On location at the VU Amsterdam
- English as the language of instruction
- +/- 225 hours per semester module. Including lectures, cases and self-study [requiring approximately 8 hours a week)
- Successful completion of a semester module will be rewarded by a certificate.
- Investment: € 9.500 first module, € 9.000 second module, €8.500 third module [+approximately€ 250 for books per semester module) For DACT members the module Cash and Treasury Operations can be taken at € 7.500;
- The registration form is available at: vu.nl/treasury
Topics:
Corporate Valuation
- Linking strategy and value creation performance
- Financial Statement Analysis
- Corporate Valuation
- Credit risk and equity risk pricing models
Corporate Finance & Corporate Capital Markets
- Debt capacity of corporates
- Debt capital markets
- M&A and equity capital markets
- Alternative corporate financing opportunities
Corporate Law
- Contract Law
- Company Law
- Legal aspects in market of corporate finance
Description of the module
Good practice of corporate valuation and corporate finance starts with a good analysis of the business model which includes at least a financial statement analysis. Execution of this analysis is not straightforward, it requires knowledge on accounting conventions like IFRS and FASB (for example accounting for pensions IAS 19, deferred tax IAS 12 and leasing IAS 17).
With a thorough qualitative and quantitative understanding of the business model and corporate strategy, a corporate can be valued. In practice, corporate valuation is often based on professional "standards" that match the rather limited theory as closely as possible. Both awareness on practical conventions and theoretical knowledge are needed to make judgements in corporate valuation practice. Starting with the valuation principles, an overview is given of the current state of the art in corporate valuation.
Next to standard options for corporate financing (equity and bank financing), the semester module addresses asset-based financing, cash-based financing, hybrid financing and project finance. Corporate finance is in essence the match of company's business assets to a large range of corporate financing alternatives offered by the corporate capital market.
Pricing and availability of corporate capital strongly relates to international developments in corporate capital markets. Current developments in corporate capital markets include the rise of alternatives to bank financing, the private placement markets in Europe and the public bond market in Europe. A rather new development is sustainability finance. Investors increasingly require companies to contribute to sustainability goals.
Last but not least, this semester module outlines relevant aspects of the legal environment for the corporate finance professional, in the context of increasing regulations and growing internationalization in business. Legal aspects in the market of corporate finance are addressed, for instance: introduction to different types of companies, capital protection for NVs and BVs, regulation regarding groups, legal aspects regarding mergers and acquisitions and the regulatory aspects of the capital market/stock exchange companies. Furthermore, contract law and the law regarding corporate restructuring will be part of the semester module.
