This thesis addresses the long-standing debate about the ability of investors in public listed companies to significantly influence or even control certain aspects of board and management decision taking. Much of the recent interest in these issues has focused on increased public disclosure of boardroom practices and standards. In contrast, my research shows that informal relationships between companies and their major shareholders are playing an increasingly important role in influencing key aspects of corporate strategy, major financing and investment decisions, and board membership. The research was undertaken through: an analysis of the investment portfolios of the 50 largest fund managers investing in the shares of UK companies and the ownership of 297 of the UK's largest listed companies; in-depth interviews with 120 companies, fund managers and others concerned with the quality and regulation of company shareholder relationships and information flows; and studying the role of fund managers and other shareholders in the resignations of the CEOs of 24 case history companies. The growing importance of informal mechanisms of fund manager influence and networking means that shareholder influence no longer depends on the formation of coalitions of the size proposed by Scott, or the alignment of interests through formally constituted Shareholder Protection Committees. A model of 'extended ownership' describes how effective control may pass to the fund manager with the largest, but still sub-minority, shareholding It is also crucial to understand that investment decisions by fund managers are influenced by and related to a wide range of company and investor-specific factors. These are described and the impact of their interactions on shareholder behaviour discussed. This thesis is relevant to the current debate about the public role that should be taken by institutional fund mangers in the process of corporate governance. Models of investor behaviour which assume that fund managers are a homogenous investor type or which do not take into account the key role of informal influence mechanisms are therefore of limited value.

Business valuations have been an integral part of business for many years, and will stay an important part of business, as valuations are required for multiple reasons. The majority of businesses in South Africa (and the rest of the world) consist of privately-owned companies. A business valuation in general is a complex exercise that can be described as an inexact science. When the business valuation of a privately-owned company is added to the equation, the level of uncertainty is increased with another notch. The valuations of privately-owned companies are therefore a relevant topic. As unsystematic risk in privately-owned companies is difficult to eliminate or mitigate by diversification, this study sets the goal to determine if the advisory departments of the big four audit, tax and advisory firms in South Africa (Ernst & Young, PwC, KPMG and Deloitte & Touch) consider and incorporate unsystematic risk into valuations of privately-owned companies and if it is taken into account, whether it is done objectively. This study firstly focussed on the literature of privately-owned company valuations. The most frequently used approaches are found to be the market approach and the income approach. The asset approach is used to determine the minimum value of a company (the liquidation value). The topic of unsystematic risk is perceived as very much subjective and therefore receptive of manipulation. The second part of the study uses the mixed method approach to collect empirical data, using survey questionnaires and follow-up interviews (which are based on the literature review). It was found that the preferred valuation approaches used by the participants are indeed the income approach followed by the market approach. It seems that these two approaches are used in conjunction with one another. Incorporating unsystematic risk is done in line with what the literature proposes, but as professional judgement is needed, the process is never entirely objective. Participants tend to agree that the identification and quantification of unsystematic risk are not entirely objective and that it is possible to use unsystematic risk as a device to bring the final results of a valuation in line with the clients‟ objective. This study recommends that a professional valuation body should be formed to regulate valuations in South Africa. This body should set valuation standards. It is furthermore recommended that the asset approach is used as a reasonableness test when going concern companies are valued, and to consider the use of CAPM variants (e.g. modified CAPM, the local CAPM, the Build-up method etc.) and non-CAPM variants (Estrada model and the EHV model) to determine the cost of equity when the income approach is followed, as is suggested by the literature. The practical implication of the study is that the research can be used as starting point by role-players in the valuations sector to open the discussion on the topic formally so that valuation practitioners can engage with one another and work towards a professional valuation body and valuation standards. The limitations of the study are that only top-level employees were used as the representatives of firms and the population only includes the big four audit, advisory and taxation firms. Areas for further research include extending the population to three strata, viz. big four firms, medium-sized firms and small-sized firms. Comparative valuations on a case study can be performed by the different approaches of each stratum using unsystematic risk as the only variable (if themes are identified in strata). Conclusions can be made based on the outcomes of the valuations to determine the impact when different approaches are followed. / Thesis (M.Com. (Management Accountancy))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2012.

Business valuations have been an integral part of business for many years, and will stay an important part of business, as valuations are required for multiple reasons. The majority of businesses in South Africa (and the rest of the world) consist of privately-owned companies. A business valuation in general is a complex exercise that can be described as an inexact science. When the business valuation of a privately-owned company is added to the equation, the level of uncertainty is increased with another notch. The valuations of privately-owned companies are therefore a relevant topic. As unsystematic risk in privately-owned companies is difficult to eliminate or mitigate by diversification, this study sets the goal to determine if the advisory departments of the big four audit, tax and advisory firms in South Africa (Ernst & Young, PwC, KPMG and Deloitte & Touch) consider and incorporate unsystematic risk into valuations of privately-owned companies and if it is taken into account, whether it is done objectively. This study firstly focussed on the literature of privately-owned company valuations. The most frequently used approaches are found to be the market approach and the income approach. The asset approach is used to determine the minimum value of a company (the liquidation value). The topic of unsystematic risk is perceived as very much subjective and therefore receptive of manipulation. The second part of the study uses the mixed method approach to collect empirical data, using survey questionnaires and follow-up interviews (which are based on the literature review). It was found that the preferred valuation approaches used by the participants are indeed the income approach followed by the market approach. It seems that these two approaches are used in conjunction with one another. Incorporating unsystematic risk is done in line with what the literature proposes, but as professional judgement is needed, the process is never entirely objective. Participants tend to agree that the identification and quantification of unsystematic risk are not entirely objective and that it is possible to use unsystematic risk as a device to bring the final results of a valuation in line with the clients‟ objective. This study recommends that a professional valuation body should be formed to regulate valuations in South Africa. This body should set valuation standards. It is furthermore recommended that the asset approach is used as a reasonableness test when going concern companies are valued, and to consider the use of CAPM variants (e.g. modified CAPM, the local CAPM, the Build-up method etc.) and non-CAPM variants (Estrada model and the EHV model) to determine the cost of equity when the income approach is followed, as is suggested by the literature. The practical implication of the study is that the research can be used as starting point by role-players in the valuations sector to open the discussion on the topic formally so that valuation practitioners can engage with one another and work towards a professional valuation body and valuation standards. The limitations of the study are that only top-level employees were used as the representatives of firms and the population only includes the big four audit, advisory and taxation firms. Areas for further research include extending the population to three strata, viz. big four firms, medium-sized firms and small-sized firms. Comparative valuations on a case study can be performed by the different approaches of each stratum using unsystematic risk as the only variable (if themes are identified in strata). Conclusions can be made based on the outcomes of the valuations to determine the impact when different approaches are followed. / Thesis (M.Com. (Management Accountancy))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2012.

Made available in DSpace on 2010-04-20T20:50:59Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 3 61060100563.pdf.jpg: 11108 bytes, checksum: 1b7efa4fbad1f37cc72bcc536ef6be13 (MD5) 61060100563.pdf: 695300 bytes, checksum: f0046fcffe94e5d794a226b2a63f4792 (MD5) 61060100563.pdf.txt: 81822 bytes, checksum: 9a18081c55dad40762777ad28e9b4c2d (MD5) Previous issue date: 2008-06-06T00:00:00Z / This research provides empirical evidence on the use of trade credit as either a substitution or a complement to bank debt for listed companies in Brazil, controlling for the firms reputation, as stated by Alphonse, Ducret and Séverin (2006). The sample consists of 263 publicly-listed companies for 2006. Our findings support all three hypotheses. We provide evidence that trade credit may be used as a signal for the firm’s quality. / Trade credit é o prazo concedido a um comprador pelo fornecedor, durante a realização de uma venda. Portanto, trata-se de um crédito concedido por instituições não-financeiras. Esta dissertação testa as hipóteses de substituição, complementariedade e reputação relacionadas ao uso de trade credit por empresas brasileiras de capital aberto, e, adicionalmente, analisa a relação entre o endividamento e o fornecimento de trade credit por estas empresas. Sob uma visão mais tradicional, o Trade credit é tido como uma fonte alternativa de crédito em relação ao financiamento bancário. Estudos mais recentes ressaltam sua importância em sinalizar às instituições financeiras a boa qualidade da empresa, uma vez que este carregaria informações relevantes possuídas pelos fornecedores sobre seus clientes. Neste sentido, o trade credit teria também a função de facilitar o acesso ao crédito. Alphonse, Ducret and Séverin (2006) sugerem que, num primeiro momento, a empresa com restrição ao crédito usaria o trade credit como complemento do crédito bancário (hipótese de complementariedade). Considerando que este seria percebido pelos bancos como um sinal de boa qualidade da empresa (hipótese de reputação), enquanto num segundo momento, os bancos se tornariam dispostos a dar crédito para essa empresa, e o trade credit passaria a ser uma fonte substitutiva de financiamento (hipótese de substituição). Os resultados confirmam as hipóteses de substituição, complementaridade, e reputação. Além de ser uma importante fonte de financiamento, o uso do trade credit parece de fato sinalizar a boa qualidade da empresa, mesmo para empresas de capital aberto, facilitando assim seu acesso ao financiamento bancário. Com relação à concessão de trade credit, encontramos que o acesso ao crédito está negativamente relacionado ao fornecimento de trade credit. Este resultado é contrário ao encontrado por pesquisas que utilizaram amostra de empresas pequenas e médias, e se justifica pela menor dependência das empresas de capital aberto em relação a seus clientes, condição que as leva a fazer menos concessões 7 aos mesmos. Com relação às empresas com maior acesso ao mercado de capitais (por exemplo, empresas que emitem debêntures), essa relação negativa entre o acesso ao crédito e fornecimento de trade credit foi ainda mais significativa. Este resultado evidencia que quanto maior a reputação menor o fornecimento de trade credit por estas empresas.

Submitted by Cristiane Oliveira (cristiane.oliveira@fgv.br) on 2011-06-13T16:51:24Z No. of bitstreams: 1 66080100261.pdf: 911970 bytes, checksum: 11cba7708a5ac1251ebc46e1d9a99f04 (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Vera Lúcia Mourão(vera.mourao@fgv.br) on 2011-06-13T17:00:09Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 66080100261.pdf: 911970 bytes, checksum: 11cba7708a5ac1251ebc46e1d9a99f04 (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Vera Lúcia Mourão(vera.mourao@fgv.br) on 2011-06-13T17:03:54Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 66080100261.pdf: 911970 bytes, checksum: 11cba7708a5ac1251ebc46e1d9a99f04 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2011-06-13T17:52:30Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 66080100261.pdf: 911970 bytes, checksum: 11cba7708a5ac1251ebc46e1d9a99f04 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2011-02-03 / Trade Credit (TC) é o crédito de curto prazo vinculado a venda de produtos cedido pelo fornecedor ao seu cliente sem a figura do agente financeiro. O objetivo deste estudo é testar se as empresas da América Latina (argentinas, brasileiras e mexicanas) substituem o crédito bancário pelo TC nos períodos de crise analisando por setores da economia e por tamanho de empresa. Foi utilizada uma amostra entre os anos 1994 até 2009 dos balanços de empresas listadas na bolsa de valores contendo ao todo 265 empresas com um total de 2.992 observações. Os dados em painel foram regredidos utilizando o método dos Efeitos Fixos. Evidências de que o TC é um substituto do crédito bancário foram encontradas para todas as pequenas empresas e para as pequenas empresas do setor de manufatura dos três países. Estes resultados estão em linha com a literatura internacional (Blasio, 2005). No entanto, não foram encontradas evidências do efeito de substituição para as grandes empresas mexicanas e brasileiras uma vez que estas empresas se utilizam de outras fontes de financiamento como o mercado de capitais, por exemplo. As empresas brasileiras concedem mais Trade Credit que recebem enquanto que as argentinas e mexicanas praticamente empatam em conceder e receber Trade Credit. / Trade Credit is the short term loan between companies and is related to product sales where the supplier finances its clients without a bank agent. The main objective of this study is to test if the Trade Credit is a substitute of banking credit in periods of financial crises for Latin America. Sample of Brazilian, Argentine and Mexican public listed companies were used between 1994 and 2009 (265 companies and 2.992 observations in total), adding size and industry analysis. The panel data were regressed using Fixed Efects method. Evidences that TC is a substitute of banking credit were found in all small companies and small manufacturing sectors for the three countries. Those results are in line with international literature (Blasio, 2005). However, the substitute effect was not found in large Mexican and Brazilian companies since these companies may use other funding sources such as capital market, for example. The Brazilian companies give more than receive Trade Credit while the Argentine and Mexican give and receive roughly same ratio.