[pt] Uma extensa literatura em Finanças Corporativas sugere que investidores e empresas respondem a incentivos advindos do sistema jurídico vigente. Neste trabalho, exibimos um exemplo em que várias empresas brasileiras reagiram com atraso à Lei 9249 de dezembro de 1995, que, com uma simples trocas de rubricas contábeis (dividendos para juros sobre capital), permite reduzir o lucro tributável da pessoa jurídica. Documentamos o atraso médio no uso do benefício fiscal e, através de um modelo de Regressão Descontínua, mostramos que o atraso médio está relacionado à baixa sofisticação jurídica das empresas. / [en] An extensive literature in Corporate Finance suggests that investors and companies respond to incentives arising from the legal system. In this paper, we show an example in which various Brazilian companies reacted late to Law 9249 of December 1995, with a simple exchange of accounting lines (dividends to interest on capital), reduces the taxable income of the corporation. Documented the average delay in the use of the tax benefit and, through a Discontinuous Regression model, we show that the average delay is related to the low sophistication of legal firms.

Die studie ondersoek die inligtingswaarde van dividende as 'n moontlike verldaring van die waargenome aandeleprysreaksie op dividendaankondigings. Twee algemene hipoteses is getoets, naamlik dat 'n betekenisvolle verandering in 'n maatskappy se dividendbeleid inligting oor daardie maatskappy se toekomstige verdienste per aandeel bevat, en tweedens dat hierdie inligting in die reaksie van aandelepryse na die aankondiging van die verandering gereflekteer word. Die belangrikste bevindinge is soos volg: • Die inligting vervat in huidige dividendaankondigings kan nie deur beleggers gebruik word om die volgende jaar se verdienste per aandeel van 'n maatskappy te voorspel nie. Die aandeleprysreaksie op positiewe, negatiewe en neutrale nuus is statisties beduidend, maar vind hoofsaaklik in dieselfde rigting plaas. Beleggers sou dus nie die inligting vervat in dividendaankondigings kan gebruik om bogemiddelde opbrengskoerse te genereer nie. • Die inligtingswaarde van dividende is dus 'n onwaarskynlike verldaring van die invloed van 'n maatskappy se dividendbeleid op die waarde van sy gewone aandele. / This research investigates the information content of dividends as a possible explanation for the observed share price reaction to dividend announcements. Two hypotheses were tested, namely that a significant change in a company's dividend policy contains information on that company's future earnings per share, and secondly, that this information is reflected in the share price reaction after the announcement of the change. The most important findings are as follows: • Investors cannot use the information contained in current dividend announcements to predict a company's earnings per share for the next year. • Share price reactions to positive, negative and neutral news are statistically significant, but will be in the same direction. Hence investors cannot use this information to generate above-normal returns. The information content of dividends is therefore an unlikely explanation of the influence a company's dividend policy has on the value of its ordinary shares. / Business Management / MCom (Sakebestuur)

Intäktsredovisning är något som berör samtliga företag gällande redovisning av alla utfördaprestationer. Hur en intäktsredovisning upprättas skiljer sig åt mellan länder vilket har mynnatut i att uppförandet av en gemensam internationell intäktsredovisningsstandard. År 2002startade därför IASB och FASB ett samarbete som kom att kallas för konvergensprojektet.Detta konvergensprojekt utmynnade till slut i ett framtagande av en gemensam internationellredovisningsstandard för intäkter vilken benämns IFRS 15. Syftet med en ny gemensamstandard för redovisning av intäkter är att eliminera svagheter och att ta fram en enda standardsom är heltäckande, det vill säga som täcker in samtliga branscher och typer av transaktioner.Den nya standarden, IFRS 15, kommer att ersätta samtliga tidigare utgivna standarder förintäktsredovisning. Avsikten med den nya redovisningsstandarden var att den skulle träda ikraft den 1 januari 2017 men är i dagsläget framskjuten till 1 januari 2018.Syftet med studien är att utreda hur den nya standarden IFRS 15 skiljer sig vidintäktsredovisning jämfört med redovisning enligt nuvarande standard IAS 11. Dettaillustreras med tre egenkonstruerade typfall. För att besvara syftet undersöks vilkakonsekvenser som kan komma att uppstå vid tillämpning av IFRS 15 jämfört med nuvarandestandard IAS 11 avseende: inkomstskatt, utdelning och nyckeltal kopplat till aktiebolagensintressenter. Metoden som tillämpas för denna studie är en kvalitativ innehållsanalys med enabduktiv ansats.Resultaten av utfallen i de typfall som presenteras visar att tillämpningen av den nyastandarden IFRS 15 i större utsträckning innebär en senareläggning av intäkter jämfört medredovisning enligt nuvarande standard IAS 11. En senareläggning av intäkter som sker enligtIFRS 15 får följdeffekter på inkomstskatt, utdelning och nyckeltal som därmed påverkar ettföretags intressenter. Utfallen i de typfall som presenteras visar också att samtliga intressentersom presenterats i studiens modifierade intressentmodell gynnas av en mer jämnintäktsredovisning som IFRS 15 inte bidrar med. / Revenue recognition is a subject that affects all companies for all rendered services.Because of the differences in how revenue recognition is prepared between countries, aconstruction of a joint international revenue recognition standard has become of interest. In2002 the IASB and the FASB started a cooperation that came to be called the convergenceproject. This convergence project led to the development of a joint international accountingstandard for revenue recognition, which is referred to as IFRS 15. The objective of the newjoint standard for revenue recognition is to eliminate inconsistencies in existing standards andto obtain a single comprehensive standard that is covering all industries and all types oftransactions. The new standard, IFRS 15, will replace all previously issued standards forrevenue recognition. IFRS 15’s effective date was set to January 1, 2017 but is currentlyprominent to January 1, 2018.The purpose of this study is to see how the new standard IFRS 15 differs in revenuerecognition compared to accounting under the current standard IAS 11. The study alsoconsist of research question regarding the consequences that may arise from the application ofIFRS 15 compared to the current standard IAS 11 relating to: income tax, dividends and keyfigures linked to the companies' stakeholders. The methodology for this study is a qualitativecontent analysis with a abductive approach.The findings show that the application of IFRS 15 is to a greater extent, a postponement ofrevenue recognition compared to accounting under the current standard IAS 11. Apostponement of revenue recognition may have an impact on corporate taxes, dividends andkey figures, and thereby affecting a company’s stakeholders. All stakeholders that arepresented in the study’s modified stakeholder model benefit from more consistent revenuerecognition that IFRS 15 doesn’t seem to provide.This paper is written in Swedish.

Die studie ondersoek die inligtingswaarde van dividende as 'n moontlike verldaring van die waargenome aandeleprysreaksie op dividendaankondigings. Twee algemene hipoteses is getoets, naamlik dat 'n betekenisvolle verandering in 'n maatskappy se dividendbeleid inligting oor daardie maatskappy se toekomstige verdienste per aandeel bevat, en tweedens dat hierdie inligting in die reaksie van aandelepryse na die aankondiging van die verandering gereflekteer word. Die belangrikste bevindinge is soos volg: • Die inligting vervat in huidige dividendaankondigings kan nie deur beleggers gebruik word om die volgende jaar se verdienste per aandeel van 'n maatskappy te voorspel nie. Die aandeleprysreaksie op positiewe, negatiewe en neutrale nuus is statisties beduidend, maar vind hoofsaaklik in dieselfde rigting plaas. Beleggers sou dus nie die inligting vervat in dividendaankondigings kan gebruik om bogemiddelde opbrengskoerse te genereer nie. • Die inligtingswaarde van dividende is dus 'n onwaarskynlike verldaring van die invloed van 'n maatskappy se dividendbeleid op die waarde van sy gewone aandele. / This research investigates the information content of dividends as a possible explanation for the observed share price reaction to dividend announcements. Two hypotheses were tested, namely that a significant change in a company's dividend policy contains information on that company's future earnings per share, and secondly, that this information is reflected in the share price reaction after the announcement of the change. The most important findings are as follows: • Investors cannot use the information contained in current dividend announcements to predict a company's earnings per share for the next year. • Share price reactions to positive, negative and neutral news are statistically significant, but will be in the same direction. Hence investors cannot use this information to generate above-normal returns. The information content of dividends is therefore an unlikely explanation of the influence a company's dividend policy has on the value of its ordinary shares. / Business Management / MCom (Sakebestuur)

Titel: “Könsfördelningen i styrelser och dess samband med utdelningsnivån i börsnoterade företag, En kvantitativ studie utförd på svenska börsnoterade företag” Nivå: C-uppsats i företagsekonomi Författare: Mathias Ehrlin och Elvira Estmyr Handledare: Peter Lindberg Datum: 2017 - September Syfte: Syftet med denna studie är att undersöka om utdelningsnivån har något samband med andelen kvinnor i börsnoterade företags styrelser och om utdelningsnivån visar samband med andra faktorer däribland företagsspecifika- och styrelsespecifika variabler. Inom tidigare forskning är det flertalet företagsspecifika faktorer som visat sig ha ett samband med utdelningsnivån. Däremot finns det mindre forskning för styrelsespecifika faktorer varpå vår studies unika bidrag är att undersöka Sverige som är en av de länder med högst andel kvinnor i börsnoterade företags styrelser. Metod: Studien tillämpar kvantitativ metod med deduktiv ansats. Data från år 2014 samlas in i huvudsak via källorna Thomson Reuters Datastream/Eikon, Retriever databas och böckerna “Styrelser och revisorer, i Sveriges börsföretag”. Vid statistiska testerna och analysen delas datan upp. Dels utförs bivariat analys och regressionsanalys för samtliga företag och dels endast de företag som genomfört utdelning. Standard multipel regression tillämpas. Slutligen förkastar/bekräftar vi hypoteser utifrån de signifikanta resultat vi får. Resultat & slutsats: Studien visar ett positivt samband mellan lönsamhet och utdelningsnivå vid analys för samtliga företag. Detta resultat är väl i linje med tidigare forskning. Övriga variabler når inte signifikans vilket kan bero på populationens storlek och observationsperioden som denna studie behandlar. Inget samband kan bekräftas eller förkastas för andel kvinnor i styrelser och dess samband med utdelningsnivå, därmed kan inte syftet för studien besvaras.Förslag till fortsatt forskning: Studien leder till ökad nyfikenhet för fortsatt forskning på området och att då analysera fler variabler och i större skala. Exempelvis fler styrelsespecifika variabler kan undersökas såsom styrelsens storlek och kön på styrelseordförande för att se om ett samband existerar mellan dessa och utdelningsnivån. Intressant hade även varit att vidga studien till att undersöka samband som dessa faktorer har på utdelningspolicy och andra tänkbara aspekter.Uppsatsens Bidrag: Bidraget uppsatsen medför är främst ett bidrag till att framtida forskning bör vara av större skala då detta förhoppningsvis ger fler signifikanta resultat. Utöver detta bidrar studien med en förståelse för hur stor skillnad en förändring av lönsamheten gör på utdelningsnivån. Detta anser vi ger ökad förståelse för ämnet till framtida forskning men även för privata investerare och företag. Nyckelord: Utdelningsnivå, företag, andel kvinnor, styrelse, Sverige, börsnoterade företag, styrelsespecifika faktorer, företagsspecifika faktorer, styrelsens sammansättning. / Title: "Gender distribution in boards and it’s relation to dividend level in listed companies, A quantitative study conducted in Swedish publicly listed companies" Level: Final assignment for Bachelor Degree in Business Administration Authors: Mathias Ehrlin and Elvira Estmyr Supervisor: Peter Lindberg Date: 2017 - September Aim: The aim of this study is to investigate if there’s a relation between the level of dividends and the proportion of women in listed companies’ boards and if the level of dividends is related to other factors including firm specific- and board specific variables. In previous research, the majority of firm-specific factors have been found to be related to the dividend level. On the other hand, there is less research for board-specific factors, our unique contribution is to investigate Sweden, which is one of the countries with the highest level of gender distribution in the boards of listed companies. Method: The study applies quantitative method with deductive approach. Data from 2014 is collected mainly through the sources Thomson Reuters Datastream/Eikon, Retriever database and the books "“Styrelser och revisorer, i Sveriges börsföretag”". At the statistical tests and analysis, the data was split up. Bivariate analysis and regression analysis is carried out on all companies in our study and also these tests are executed on only those companies that have made a dividend payout for the period. Standard multiple regression is applied. Finally, we reject or confirm hypotheses based on the significant results we receive. Result & Conclusions: The study shows a positive correlation between profitability and dividend level when analyzing all companies in our study. This result is well in line with previous research. Other variables do not reach significance, which may depend on the size of the population and the observation period that this study takes into account. No relationship can be confirmed or rejected for the proportion of women in boards and the dividend level. The aim of this study is therefore left unanswered.Suggestions for future research: The study leads to increased curiosity for continued research in the field and to analyze more variables and on a larger scale. For example, more board-specific variables can be investigated such as the size and gender of the Board of Directors to see if there is a relationship between these and the dividend level. It would also be interesting to have broadened the study to investigate the impact these factors have on dividend policy and other possible aspects. Contribution of the thesis: The contribution the thesis entails primarily is that it provides more intel to the fact that future research should be of a larger scale, as this would then hopefully give more significant results. In addition, the study provides an understanding of how a change in profitability impacts the dividend level. In our opinion, we provide greater understanding of the subject for future research but also for private investors and companies. Keywords: Dividend, Dividend level, Company, Proportion of Women, Board, Board of directors, Sweden, Listed companies, Board-specific factors, Firm-specific factors, Board composition.

Intäktsredovisning har länge varit ett omdebatterat problemområde inom redovisning. Under 1990- och 2000-talet utspelades redovisningsskandaler inom intäktsredovisning vilket startade utvecklingen av en ny internationell intäktsstandard. Den nya intäktsstandarden, IFRS 15 Intäkter från avtal med kunder, antogs år 2014 av både IASB och FASB. Syftet med IFRS 15 var att skapa en allt mer jämförbar och transparent finansiell rapportering. Företag har därmed möjlighet att tillämpa regelverket K3 alternativ intäktsstandarden IFRS 15 genom Rådet för finansiell rapporterings rekommendation RFR 2. Standarden IFRS 15 trädde i kraft den 1 januari 2018.Syftet med studien är att undersöka ifall det förekommer skillnader mellan regelverken RFR2/IFRS 15 och K3 vid intäktsredovisning avseende informationsvärde, särskilda nyckeltal och utdelningsmöjligheter. Vidare utreds vilket regelverk som är mest fördelaktigt utifrån ett intressentperspektiv och borgenärsperspektiv. För att uppnå studiens syfte har tre typfall konstruerats som berör entreprenadbranschen, fastighetsbranschen och IT branschen. Metoden som tillämpas i studien är en kvalitativ innehållsanalys med en abduktivforskningsansats. Resultatet av typfallen visar att det förekommer en viss skillnad mellan regelverken RFR 2/IFRS 15 och K3 men att i majoriteten av våra typfall sker redovisningen av intäkterna på samma sätt. I typfall 1 uppstår det skillnader i tidpunkten och fördelningen vid redovisning av intäkter vilket får effekter på nyckeltal och utdelning. Syftet med studien är att jämföra regelverken och se om något av dessa är mer fördelaktigt än det andra. Slutsatsen är att det finns för och nackdelar med båda regelverken och det är svårt att utifrån dessa typfall konstatera att det ena regelverket skulle vara mer fördelaktigt än det andra, det är helt situationsbaserat. Utifrån ett borgenärsperspektiv kan vi inte heller dra någon slutsats att något av regelverken skulle vara mer gynnsamt för denna intressentgrupp utifrån våra typfall. För att kunna dra ännu mer betydelsefulla slutsatser behöver man jämföra dessa regelverk över fler typfall av en större variation. / Revenue accounting has long been a debated issue in accounting. During the 1990s and 2000s accounting scandals in revenue accounting were played out, this led to the development of anew international revenue recognition standard. This new revenue recognition standard called IFRS 15 Revenue from contracts with customers was approved in 2014 by both IASB and FASB Board. The purpose of IFRS 15 is to create an increasingly comparable and transparent financial reporting. Companies can choose between the regulation K3 alternative the standard IFRS 15 by applying the recommendation RFR 2. The revenue standard IFRS 15 entered into force on January 1, 2018.The purpose of this study is to investigate if there are differences between RFR 2/ IFRS 15 and K3 in revenue recognition relating to information value, special key figures and dividend opportunities. Furthermore, this study will investigate and show which regulation is most beneficial from a stakeholder and creditor perspective. To achieve the purpose of this study, three hypothetical cases have been designed based on three different industries. The methodology for this study is a qualitative content analysis with a abductive approach. The result from our three hypothetical cases indicate that there are some difference between the standards RFR 2/ IFRS 15 and K3 but in the majority of our cases they recognize the revenue in the same way. In hypothetical case 1 there are a difference in when and how the revenue is allocated, which has an effect on financial ratios and dividens. The purpose of the study is to compare the two different standards and examine if one is more beneficial than the other. The conclusion is that there are both pros and cons with both regulations, therefore it is difficult to conclude which regulation is the most beneficial. Neither from a creditors perspective can we make the conclusion that one of the standards are more favorable based on our hypothetical cases for these group of interests. To be able to draw more precise conclusions we have to compare more cases with greater variation.

The primary argument and area of interest within this explorative study lies within the domain of copyright law enforcement of the creative industries and argues the deleterious impact that the infringement of copyright has on national and individual balance sheets and the opportunity to re-engineer the copyright dividend. Globally, creative industries are estimated to account for more than 7% of the world’s gross domestic product and are predicted to grow, on average, 10% per year. Digitization and the internet have seen to it that copyright, through inter alia the unlimted reproduction capacity of copyrights, brought by digitization and the internet, has seen its importance in the intellectual property bouquet soar. This study endevours to establish the beginning of a discourse on copyright in which the very survival of the creative industries, galvanized, for more than a century by technology and changes in technology and the security of its consumers, depends on the adopting of improved, farsighted, equitable, inclusive and stricter measures in order to protect such from both internal and external threats. From a global perspective most copyright owners and nations with few exceptions rich in copyrights, compounded by the presence of unsubstantial collaboration, suffer losses because the protection of their respective intellectual property rights such as copyright, trademarks and patents are not adequately aligned with what may be referred as the technology conversation. It is imperative that the collaborative copyright alliances develop a strategic agenda that is relevant to the technology conversation in order to re-engineer the copyright dividend where new copyright enforcement mechanisms will be deployed. In as much as this study placed greater emphasis on online infringement, physical piracy is still pervasive and it intensely contributed to the explorative conversation. Piracy effectively relieves copyright authors and the State of the royalty flows that arise from legal and transparent use of copyright. It is these royalty flows that give rise to term “copyright dividend” literally meaning the income arising from the underlying copyright assets. Seeing what is stolen by piracy as the “theft”, whether direct or indirect, of copyright dividends, the challenge to address, avert and amend such outcomes is akin to re-engineering the copyright dividend and this meant the examining of the copyright law structures influencing and regulating the trade in copyrights. In this study the focus was initially on understanding the copyright law regimes and the real challenges that influenced their respective implementations that generated a copyright dividend. Understanding exactly how well such were actually working rested on exploring the lived experiences and perceptions of ten copyright experts across the world from two primary copyright law regimes. Such an exploration was necessary as such provided the requisite insight into inter alia the legal framework wherein both the illegal market and the legal market for copyright operated, to the threats faced the copyright dividend. Five research questions were used in this study. Such served as the discussion points used in the interviews with the ten research participants.These five research questions emerged from the problematization within current , literature and supported by the research data. The obtained data were grouped in relation to the five research questions and filtered to identify commonalities amongst the ten participants. The obtained data were grouped in relation to the five research questions and filtered through a lamination process,which emerged to identify commonalities amongst the ten participants.The global copyright law system and stakeholdership presently lack the necessary strategies, capacities, will and common thought to effectively address infringement. This is the major impediment of technological advancement and thus reengineering the copyright dividend was critical. To a demonstratable extend it is independent of the progress of governments and other relevant parties affected by infringement. The data also showed that infringement is an eroding threat to intellectual property and that critical knowledge is an urgent necessity to re-install the copyright value in its global ecosystem, which is essentially achieved by diverting the copyright dividends stolen by the illegal copyright market and re-engineering the copyright dividend. The outcome is that copyright law enforcement promotes the returns of dividends and fair trade to the rightful owners in an accountable and sustainable manner, as was and is intended by the global copyright law regimes. / PhD (Business Administration), North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2015

The primary argument and area of interest within this explorative study lies within the domain of copyright law enforcement of the creative industries and argues the deleterious impact that the infringement of copyright has on national and individual balance sheets and the opportunity to re-engineer the copyright dividend. Globally, creative industries are estimated to account for more than 7% of the world’s gross domestic product and are predicted to grow, on average, 10% per year. Digitization and the internet have seen to it that copyright, through inter alia the unlimted reproduction capacity of copyrights, brought by digitization and the internet, has seen its importance in the intellectual property bouquet soar. This study endevours to establish the beginning of a discourse on copyright in which the very survival of the creative industries, galvanized, for more than a century by technology and changes in technology and the security of its consumers, depends on the adopting of improved, farsighted, equitable, inclusive and stricter measures in order to protect such from both internal and external threats. From a global perspective most copyright owners and nations with few exceptions rich in copyrights, compounded by the presence of unsubstantial collaboration, suffer losses because the protection of their respective intellectual property rights such as copyright, trademarks and patents are not adequately aligned with what may be referred as the technology conversation. It is imperative that the collaborative copyright alliances develop a strategic agenda that is relevant to the technology conversation in order to re-engineer the copyright dividend where new copyright enforcement mechanisms will be deployed. In as much as this study placed greater emphasis on online infringement, physical piracy is still pervasive and it intensely contributed to the explorative conversation. Piracy effectively relieves copyright authors and the State of the royalty flows that arise from legal and transparent use of copyright. It is these royalty flows that give rise to term “copyright dividend” literally meaning the income arising from the underlying copyright assets. Seeing what is stolen by piracy as the “theft”, whether direct or indirect, of copyright dividends, the challenge to address, avert and amend such outcomes is akin to re-engineering the copyright dividend and this meant the examining of the copyright law structures influencing and regulating the trade in copyrights. In this study the focus was initially on understanding the copyright law regimes and the real challenges that influenced their respective implementations that generated a copyright dividend. Understanding exactly how well such were actually working rested on exploring the lived experiences and perceptions of ten copyright experts across the world from two primary copyright law regimes. Such an exploration was necessary as such provided the requisite insight into inter alia the legal framework wherein both the illegal market and the legal market for copyright operated, to the threats faced the copyright dividend. Five research questions were used in this study. Such served as the discussion points used in the interviews with the ten research participants.These five research questions emerged from the problematization within current , literature and supported by the research data. The obtained data were grouped in relation to the five research questions and filtered to identify commonalities amongst the ten participants. The obtained data were grouped in relation to the five research questions and filtered through a lamination process,which emerged to identify commonalities amongst the ten participants.The global copyright law system and stakeholdership presently lack the necessary strategies, capacities, will and common thought to effectively address infringement. This is the major impediment of technological advancement and thus reengineering the copyright dividend was critical. To a demonstratable extend it is independent of the progress of governments and other relevant parties affected by infringement. The data also showed that infringement is an eroding threat to intellectual property and that critical knowledge is an urgent necessity to re-install the copyright value in its global ecosystem, which is essentially achieved by diverting the copyright dividends stolen by the illegal copyright market and re-engineering the copyright dividend. The outcome is that copyright law enforcement promotes the returns of dividends and fair trade to the rightful owners in an accountable and sustainable manner, as was and is intended by the global copyright law regimes. / PhD (Business Administration), North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2015

The discounted cash flow model and relative valuation models are ever-increasingly prevalent in today’s investment-heavy environment. In other words, theoretically inferior models are used in practice. It is this paradox that has lead us to compare the discounted cash flow model (DCFM), discounted dividend model (DDM), residual income-based model (RIVM) and the abnormal earnings growth model (AEGM) and their relative accuracy to observed stockprices. Adding to previous research, we investigate their performance in relation to the OMX30 index. What is more, we test how the performance of each model is affected by an extension of the forecast horizon. The study finds that AEGM outperforms the other models, both before and after extending the horizon. Our analysis was conducted by looking at accuracy, spread and the inherent speculative nature of each model. Taking all this into account, RIVM outperforms the other models. In this sense, one can question the rationale behind investor’s decision to primarily use the discounted cash flow model in equity valuation.

<p>Bakgrund: De svenska börsbolagen gör större vinster än någonsin tidigare, men har fått stor kritik för att vara för långsamma i sin vinstallokering. Företag med överkapitaliserade balansräkningar utan investeringsbehov är potentiella måltavlor för riskkapitalisternas affärsidé om finansiell effektivisering och en aggressivare kapitalstruktur. Debatten i media har skapat kritik kring dessa så kallade kortsiktiga och giriga bolagsplundrare som påstås förstöra finansiella värden och kreditvärdigheten i företagen. I tidigare fall har marknaden svarat positivt på riskkapitalisternas investeringar, något som har reflekterats i ett kraftigt ökande aktiepris. Skeptiker hävdar dock att spekulationer är anledningen till att marknadsvärdet drivs upp, inte fundamentala aspekter.</p><p>Syfte: Syftet med denna magisteruppsats är att fastställa en bild av fenomenet riskkapital och hur dess aktiva ägande inverkar på svenska börsbolags kreditbetyg, kapitalstruktur och värdering.</p><p>Metod: För att uppnå syftet med vår magisteruppsats har en kvalitativ ansats till-lämpats baserad på tre börsbolag där riskkapitalisters aktiva ägande spelat en betydande roll. Det empiriska materialet har insamlats genom personliga intervjuer med aktie- och kreditanalytiker, och studien förlitar sig även på markandsdata, artiklar och nyhetssändningar i media, samt respektive bolags kvartals- och årsrapporter.</p><p>Slutsats: Studien har gjorts over den tidsperiod som varit riskkapitalisternas inve-steringshorisont – explicit och implicit. Genom att analysera det aktiva ägarskapet i tre svenska börsbolag kan slutsatsen dras att det inverkat positivt i form av högre prestanda och marknadsvärdering. De finansiella förändringarna har, till skillnad från kritiken, styrkt kreditbetyget i fallen Lindex och Volvo. En analys av Skandia/Old Mutual visade dock en marginellt ökad kreditrisk. Slutsatsen visar härmed att riskkapitalisternas inverkan på svenska börsbolag är värdeförädlande utan att äventyra den finansiella statusen.</p> / <p>Background: The Swedish blue chip companies are performing better than ever, but have been strongly criticised for being too slow in their excess fund allocation. Companies with overcapitalised balance sheets and no investment needs are potential targets for activist funds’ business idea of more aggressive capital structures and financial restructuring. In media, this debate has raised criticism against these so called short-sighted, greedy asset-strippers that destroy company values and increase the companies’ risk of default. In prior cases where activist funds have taken actions, the market has responded positively through increasing the share price. However, sceptics argue that the higher share price is merely a response to a speculative reaction with no fundamental argument supporting the upgrade in market capitalisation.</p><p>Purpose: The purpose of this thesis is to establish a view of the phenomenon of activist funds and their impact on blue chip companies’, listed on the Stockholm Stock Exchange, credit rating, capital structure and valuation.</p><p>Method: To fulfil the purpose of our master thesis, a qualitative approach has been applied based on three cases involving the activities of activist funds. The empirical findings have been retrieved via personal communications with stock- and credit analysts, and the study also relies on articles and news coverage from media, stock market data and annual reports from each of the chosen companies respectively.</p><p>Conclusion: The study has regarded the period of time which has been the investment horizon of the activist funds – explicitly and implicitly. Analysing their active ownership, the conclusion can be drawn that these activist funds have clearly had a positive impact on each of the blue chip companies’ performance and intrinsic value respectively. The financial restructuring has - contrarily to the criticism – strengthened the credit ratings in the cases of Lindex and Volvo. In the Skandia/Old Mutual-case, a marginally higher default risk was detected. Thus, the study has concluded that activist funds indeed add significant shareholder value without jeopardising the companies’ financial statuses.</p>