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. 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. 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. 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. / 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. 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. 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. 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.

本研究將我國獨立專家可能發揮之功能分為能夠認證交易係公平且無弊端之「消極認證功能」及能積極預測綜效並為市場排除不具綜效交易之「積極認證功能」，並藉由分析代理成本與獨立專家選擇之關聯性，以及獨立專家自我選擇與併購後綜效之關聯性，實證探討我國獨立專家制度之運作概況及其功能。 研究結果發現，衡量代理成本之公司及交易特性變數中，負債比率較高、外部大股東持股比率較低、機構投資人持股比率較低、併購溢價較高、主併與被併公司相對規模較接近時，公司聘僱高聲譽獨立專家的可能性較高，支持我國獨立專家可能具有降低代理成本之消極認證功能之論點。積極認證功能方面，本研究發現，以併購金額市佔率衡量獨立專家聲譽時，高聲譽獨立專家簽發評價報告之併購案，併購後市場佔有率成長幅度較高，支持我國獨立專家可能具有積極認證功能之論點，但僅限於市場綜效部分。 / This study tests whether the negative certification function and positive certification function are important service performed by independent experts in the M&A transaction. It conducts an empirical investigation of the choice of independent experts and the synergy in the M&A transaction. The result demonstrates that when the debt ratio is high, the percentage of stock owned by institutional owners and external shareholders is low, the premium is high, and the size of acquirer and target is similar, acquirer tends to hire a more prestigious independent expert. It confirms that the negative certification function exists. In addition, we find that when the reputation (measured by market share) of independent experts is high, the market synergy in the M&A may be higher than others. It is because of that the independent experts tend to protect their reputation by choosing their clients rigorously. Therefore, the positive certification function is also confirmed.

The premise of this thesis is to conduct a research regarding the connection of brand image, brand identity, brand positioning with brand adapting management. The significant purpose of this thesis is for better understanding how a Chinese auto corporation can effectively manage and adapt an acquired foreign brand in Chinese market. In order to reach this purpose, a case study of Geely/Volvo’s acquisition has been carried out which entailed company visit (Volvo Brand Experience Center), interviews with Volvo brand specialists, Volvo dealer and Chinese market expert. The Theoretical Framework describes the general concepts of brand, brand management, company acquisition and three brand adapting concepts of brand image, brand identity and brand positioning. The Empirical Data Collection deals with the Volvo’s brand identity and value proposition, Chinese customers’ perceptions on Volvo brand image and Geely’s brand positioning strategy on Volvo. The Analysis related the theory framework with the empirical results. It discussed and analyzed how Geely can adapt Volvo in Chinese automotive market through dealing with Volvo’s core values, brand image and brand positioning. The Conclusion summarized the Chinese auto corporation needs to concern on three factors for adapting an acquired brand: value proposition of acquired brand, Chinese customers’ perceptions on acquired brand image and brand positioning strategy. Finally our recommendation presents the limitations of this study, suggestions for future research in this field, and managerial implications for the case company.

This study mainly discusses the effect, in country level, of minority shareholder protection on shareholder wealth during mergers and acquisitions (M&A). In particular, based on the index of anti-director rights (ADRI) developed by LLSV (1998) and the index of shareholder protection index (SPI) by John Armour et al.(2009), I empirically examine the linkage between M&A activities and indexes as well as the components of these indexes. This study expects the result may show some relevance between of indices and M&A activities, and the legal value of this relevance. The purpose is to show whether minority shareholder protection is workable in M&A activities, and whether it can facilitate M&A markets. To begin with, this paper discusses LLSV¡¦s uniqueness in corporate law study ¡V using empirical method to value whether corporate law matters or not around the world. Then, I analyze LLSV¡¦s possible defects, review criticisms and effects they had incurred. Secondly, we design a study to compare the revised LLSV methodology developed by the Harvard scholar Spamann with SPI index through stock market and M&A market. I also code China¡¦s and Taiwan¡¦s data to make up the lack of samples of cross level variation, and take this as the basis for corporate institutional comparison. This study reports that each of sub-indexes from ADRI and SPI has different relevance to M&A activities: three are positive, five are negative, three are insignificant, and two are valueless of discussion (definition or design defect). Thus we may see the importance of law quantification. We appreciate further research and authorities¡¦ consideration following our work in Taiwan. Finally, the contribution of this study is to attempt to integrate empirical and comparative legal analysis, in response to global corporate governance issues of promoting cross research. On policy implications is that it can predict some investor protection mattes, direct the way of policy adjustment. Besides, this study can also suggest specific amendment for Company Law and Securities law to re-examine how to balance between market development and the protection of minority shareholders.

Stroke is the third leading cause of death. Atherosclerosis in the carotid arteries is a risk factor for ischemic stroke. Oxidized low density lipoprotein (LDL) plays a central role in the progression of atherosclerosis. Human paraoxonase 1 (PON1), a high-density lipoprotein (HDL) associated serum esterase/lactonase, protects HDL and LDL from oxidative modifications. Thus, PON1 is protective against the development of atherosclerosis. PON1 gene has two functional coding region (192Q/R and 55L/M) and one promoter region (&amp / #8722 / 107T/C) polymorphism that affect the catalytic efficiency and levels of the enzyme, respectively. In this study, the aim was to determine the importance of PON1 genetic polymorphisms and activity as risk factors for ischemic stroke. The study population was comprised of 172 unrelated adult Caucasian patients with acute hemispheric ischemic stroke and 105 symptom-free controls. Serum and total blood samples were obtained from G&uuml / lhane Military Medical Academy Hospital Neurology Department, Ankara. Hypertension and diabetes were 2 times more common and HDL-C was significantly lower among patients compared to controls. Logistic regression analysis revealed hypertension and smoking to be significant predictors of stroke. Serum PON1 activities towards three substrates, paraoxon (paraoxonase activity / PON), phenyl acetate (arylesterase activity / ARE) and diazoxon (diazoxonase activity), which were measured by spectrophotometric methods, were found to be lower in stroke patients compared to controls. PON and PON/ARE were negatively associated with ischemic stroke by use of logistic regression analysis. PON/ARE was 1.26 times protective against stroke. The frequencies of the risky alleles 192R, 55L and &amp / #8722 / 107T were increased in the patient group. Frequency of the 55L allele of PON1 was significantly increased among patients (0.690) compared to controls (0.628 / P=0.003). Logistic regression analysis revealed PON1 55LL genotype to be associated with a 1.8-fold increase in the risk of ischemic stroke versus control status. Prevalence of triple combined haplotype QRLMTC was significantly lower in stroke patients (4.1%) when compared to controls (11.4% / P=0.019). The combined heterozygote haplotype had around 7 times increased protective effect against stroke in the overall population and 10 times protective effect in the elderly population. The low expressor genotype &amp / #8722 / 107TT was associated with almost 2 times increased risk for stroke in elderly. 192R allele of PON1 represented 1.554 times increased risk for ischemic stroke in hypertensives relative to normotensives. Furthermore, the risk of hypertensive individuals having ischemic stroke was highest in the 192RR group (Odds Ratio / OR=7), followed by 192QR heterozygotes (OR=2.18), and the risk decreased to insignificant levels in 192QQ individuals. 192R allele constituted a 1.55 times increased risk in diabetics. 55L allele was associated with a 1.66 times increased risk of stroke in hypertensives and a 2.6 times increased risk for stroke in diabetics relative to non-diabetics. PON1 &amp / #8722 / 107T allele also represented a 1.35 times risk for stroke in hypertensives.

This thesis is an exploration on the growth and profitability models of Internet enterprises. Via literature review and interview with experts ,we try to answer the following questions: 1.What's the vision of Internet? 2.How Internet enterprises expand and grow? 3.How to earn profits? And how to generate the synergy by connecting them with each other? 4.Are there any ways to maintain continuous growth and profitability? From the general influence diagram of Heijden, we could believe that knowledge management is the basis of growth, value chain is the gravity center of development, and continuous innovation is the driver of growth. However, the main actions to make external growth are strategic alliance and M&A, and they are also the fastest ways to expand the scale of business. Furthermore, our research also finds that there are ten profit models with respect to dot com companies. They are (1)Customer Solutions Profit, (2)Value Chain Position Profit , (3)Time Profit , (4)Specialization Profit, (5)Brand Profit , (6)New Product Profit , (7)Switchboard Profit , (8)Blockbuster Profit, (9)Patronize Profit ,and (10)Returns Sharing Model¡C Every dot com company could select 2 or 3 models to manage her business and make profits. For network ecology being continuously changeable, every company could develop suitable profit models according to her management character. Finally, by analyzing that how SOFTBANK CO., a venture capital, expands her Netbatsu kingdom, we conclude that cooperation between dot com companies is the best way to survive and grow stronger.

Across six Chapters, this thesis examines the legal effects of mergers and acquisitions (M&As) on the employees, Board of Directors and shareholders of companies with the objective of gaining in-depth understanding of this area. The thesis then develops legal and practical solutions for the problems and negative effects associated with M&As, specifically regarding employees, Boards of Directors and shareholder companies involved in such operations. This research determines to answer the following question: How do mergers and acquisitions (M&As) affect employees, management and shareholders rights and obligations? And what the legal basis for transferring their rights and liabilities between companies involved in M&As? Despite the importance of M&As as a means of economic concentration and emergence in terms of major commercial or industrial projects, the laws of both the UAE and Qatar do not sufficiently address the issue of mergers or their goals and conditions. They also fail to regulate acquisitions or to otherwise specify when acquisitions become necessary for companies. Furthermore, the laws do not specify the rights of workers regarding their knowledge of or participation in M&As or developed adequate solutions for the negative impacts on companies workers in such processes. These laws do not provide the right for the Board of Directors of the transferor company to merge with the Board of Directors of the transferee company. Additionally, they also unsuccessfully address the minority shareholders right (those not interested in the merger) to exit the merged company and recover the value of their shares. Moreover, the UAE and Qatar have not developed appropriate solutions for the exchange of shares between companies involved in mergers in the case of dissimilarity between the actual values of the shares of both companies. This has notably led to jurisprudence and judiciary confusion between the concept of M&As, their legal nature and the legal basis or theory for the transfer of the rights and liabilities of employees, management and shareholders between companies involved in M&A operations. In accordance with legal texts, the above discussion, M&A legal theory and the theory of the agency contract between a company and its Board of Directors, the thesis argues that M&As should not lead to cutting labour contracts or negatively affect employee rights as long as corporate ventures remain in place and M&A operations do not lead to the liquidation of merged or acquired companies. Also, the thesis shows that a company is linked with its Board of Directors through a special form of agency contract, which justifies the transfer of the rights of the Board of Directors of the merged company with regards to the merging or new company management. The thesis also develops solutions and processes for the exchange of shares between merged companies when there are differences between the actual values of their shares, through the shareholders of the merged company buying shares from the merging company or by selling their shares to the merging company and recovering the value of their shares in cash. The study also recommends taking a set of procedural measures during M&As, modifying some of the relevant legal texts of the UAE and Qatar, which would mitigate the negative effects of mergers and acquisitions. Furthermore, this research suggests ways to improve such laws to reach the level of those of developed countries, in order to encourage mergers and acquisitions in the region.

El presente trabajo de tesis proporciona un enfoque para la evaluación de la calidad de aplicaciones Web en el ámbito específico de e-government. Los marcos, metodologías y estándares preexistentes en la industria no aportan aplicaciones particulares a este campo, pero sí pueden ser extendidos o configurados para este medio regido por dinámicas diversas y cambiantes que no siempre pueden asimilarse a experiencias de otros dominios. La gestión de la calidad va lentamente cobrando importancia, y se resalta el rol del usuario que a través de su percepción y opiniones, nos brinda información para realizar direccionamientos hacia un mejor producto, un producto más elegido. Es por ello que se ha llevado a cabo una exhaustiva revisión del estado del arte sobre el concepto general de calidad, y su visión particular desde la Ingeniería de Software. Posteriormente se han analizado los marcos metodológicos y estrategias de M&E preexistentes de los cuales se seleccionó GOCAME para llevar adelante un caso de prueba, basándose en su solidez y numerosos casos de aplicación. Debido a la ausencia de experiencias de medición de calidad en organismos de gobierno, se planteó la necesidad de proponer un modelo de requerimientos de calidad como prototipo para M&E. Como consecuencia se presentó un marco metodológico consistente en el cual desarrollar todas las tareas involucradas en el proceso de evaluación de la calidad, en este caso calidad externa a través de la visión de expertos del dominio, y calidad en uso desde la perspectiva de usuarios reales. El modelo diseñado fue validado conceptualmente a través de la instanciación de la metodología abordada utilizando como caso de estudio una aplicación Web del organismo. Conjuntamente con las mediciones técnicas se planteó la necesidad de caracterizar a los usuarios a través de sus rasgos de preferencias fuertes que fue cruzado con sus opiniones en busca de correlaciones que fundamenten algún patrón o tendencia. Los resultados de la ejecución del plan de evaluación mostraron el estado de situación de la gestión de la calidad desarrollada por el área de IT del organismo, el cual prevé un plan de mejoras, actuación y refinamiento del modelo propuesto para continuar las mediciones extendiéndolo incluso a otras áreas de IT de organismos gubernamentales, reutilizando de esta manera la experiencia adquirida e institucionalizando un proceso de aprendizaje continuo.

This paper investigates the influence of various macroeconomic variables on Japan’s merger and acquisition (M&A) activity, both in terms of total deal value and total number of deals. Looking at monthly data from June 1997 to December 2013, I use econometric time-series analysis to find that: First, total deal value per month is not well explained by our macroeconomic variables, but about half of the variation in number of deals per month can be explained by our dataset. Second, the most important determinant in the total number of deals per month during our period is the level of national debt, and interest rates had the opposite effect from what was originally expected. Third, adding lag variables to our analysis proved to be relatively fruitless. Finally, when taking a look at only the past couple of years to determine the effects of “Abenomics” on M&A activity in Japan, I conclude that there is not enough data, and better results would be obtained in the future.

Αν και από τα μέσα της δεκαετίας του 1980 στην χώρα μας, παρατηρήθηκε ένα αξιόλογο “κύμα” εξαγορών και συγχωνεύσεων τόσο από ξένες πολυεθνικές επιχειρήσεις, όσο και από εγχώριες εταιρίες, οι συνέπειες τους στην αποτελεσματικότητα των επιχειρήσεων στόχων κρίνεται ότι δεν έχουν διερευνηθεί επαρκώς. Αποτελεί γεγονός ότι οι περισσότερες έρευνες που έχουν γίνει μέχρι σήμερα για τις επιπτώσεις των εξαγορών εστιάζουν κυρίως στις αποδόσεις των αγοραστριών εταιρειών, ενώ μόνο μια μικρή μερίδα αυτών των ερευνών εξετάζει και τις επιπτώσεις στις επιχειρήσεις στόχους. Έτσι, η παρούσα εργασία φιλοδοξεί να συνδράμει στην κάλυψη αυτού του «κενού» στην βιβλιογραφία. Η εργασία χωρίζεται σε δύο μέρη, στο πρώτο μέρος γίνεται μια θεωρητική επισκόπηση του φαινομένου των Ε & Σ. Συγκεκριμένα στο πρώτο κεφάλαιο παρουσιάζονται οι λόγοι που ωθούν τις επιχειρήσεις στην πραγματοποίηση εξαγορών και συγχωνεύσεων. Αναφέρονται οι κίνδυνοι που αντιμετωπίζονται στα διάφορα στάδια υλοποίησης της Ε ή Σ καθώς και οι λόγοι που, όπως θα δούμε παρακάτω, το μεγαλύτερο ποσοστό των Ε & Σ οδηγείται σε αποτυχία. Στο δεύτερο κεφάλαιο γίνεται μια σύντομη παρουσίαση της ιστορίας των Ε & Σ στο διεθνές και αλλά και ελληνικό οικονομικό γίγνεσθαι. Αναλύεται το φαινόμενο των «κυμάτων» των Ε & Σ. Στην συνέχεια γίνεται αναφορά των επιπτώσεων της πρόσφατης χρηματοπιστωτικής κρίσης, του 2008, στην διεθνή αλλά και ελληνική αγορά των Ε & Σ. Το κεφάλαιο κλείνει με μια σύντομη παρουσίαση των μελλοντικών προοπτικών για Ε & Σ στην Ελλάδα. Στο τρίτο κεφάλαιο ασχολούμαστε με την αξιολόγηση της επιτυχίας των Ε & Σ. Γίνεται μια συζήτηση με βάση αποτελέσματα παλιότερων εμπειρικών ερευνών και αξιολογείται ο ρόλος των διευθυντικών στελεχών στο καθορισμό της επιτυχίας της εξαγοράς ή της συγχώνευσης. Στην συνέχεια παρουσιάζονται οι δύο σημαντικότερες μέθοδοι υπολογισμού των επιπτώσεων των Ε & Σ. Η πρώτη μέθοδος είναι αυτή των έκτακτων/μη κανονικών αποδόσεων (abnormal returns) που καλείται να μετρήσει τις χρηματοοικονομικές επιπτώσεις οι οποίες οφείλονται στην ανακοίνωση της επικείμενης Ε ή Σ. Υπολογίζει τις έκτακτες χρηματιστηριακές αποδόσεις των μετοχών των εμπλεκόμενων στην Ε ή Σ επιχειρήσεων για ένα βραχυχρόνιο διάστημα μετά την εξαγορά. Η δεύτερη, είναι η μέθοδος αξιολόγησης λειτουργικής απόδοσης βάσει λογιστικών στοιχείων (Αccounting based operational performance evaluation), επιχειρεί να υπολογίσει τις, πιο μακροπρόθεσμες, λειτουργικές επιπτώσεις των εξαγορών και συγχωνεύσεων. Βασίζεται στην άντληση και επεξεργασία στοιχείων από τις λογιστικές καταστάσεις των επιχειρήσεων, μετράει τα λειτουργικά αποτελέσματα (operational performance) χρησιμοποιώντας κάποιες μεταβλητές όπως αριθμοδείκτες, δείκτες τάσεις κλπ. Και για τις δύο μεθόδους γίνεται αναλυτική παρουσίαση του τρόπου χρησιμοποίησης τους, ενώ στην συνέχεια παρατίθενται αποτελέσματα παλαιότερων εμπειρικών ερευνών, τα οποία μας οδηγούν στην διεξαγωγή κάποιων χρήσιμων συμπερασμάτων. Το δεύτερο μέρος της εργασίας, αποτελεί μια εμπειρική έρευνα η οποία βασισμένη στην μέθοδο αξιολόγησης λειτουργικής απόδοσης, βάσει λογιστικών στοιχείων επιδιώκει να δώσει μια απάντηση στο ερώτημα εάν υπήρξαν συνέργιες στις ελληνικές εισηγμένες επιχειρήσεις, οι οποίες κατά την περίοδο 2002 – 2006 αποτέλεσαν στόχο εξαγοράς. Απώτερη επιδίωξη της έρευνας μας είναι να παρουσιάσει την σημασία των εξαγορών στη μεταβολή της αξίας των επιχειρήσεων στόχων. Για να απαντήσουμε σε αυτό το ερώτημα εξετάσαμε ένα δείγμα 19 ελληνικών εισηγμένων επιχειρήσεων οι οποίες αποτέλεσαν στόχο εξαγοράς από ελληνικές ή διεθνείς επιχειρήσεις την περίοδο 2002 – 2006. Η ανάλυση έγινε με στοιχεία που αντλήθηκαν από τις λογιστικές καταστάσεις αυτών των επιχειρήσεων (ισολογισμούς και καταστάσεις ταμειακών ροών). Η εργασία ολοκληρώνεται με την παράθεση των συμπερασμάτων που προέκυψαν έπειτα από την ανάλυση των αποτελεσμάτων της έρευνας. / -