Describe the difference between a bulge-bracket investment bank and a boutique.

Problem 1 a) Describe the difference between a bulge-bracket investment bank and a boutique.

b) Describe the two possible market signals that investors perceive from a firm announcing an increase in its dividend payments to shareholders.

Problem 2

a) Briefly describe what is meant by a "tax-inversion" in M&A practice.

b) Define a hostile vs. a friendly acquisition and outline the differences in outcomes between the two types of transactions.

c) Briefly describe the goal of an accretion/dilution model.

d) Describe a situation in which an M&A modeller will chose a 3-stage growth model to analyse a company (instead of a 1-stage growth model).

Problem 3

A Company has become the subject of a takeover offer. The Company`s current share price is $12.40 per share, and shareholders have been offered $17.00 per share.