Investment Alternative Benchmarking for Bernard Lester
University of Phoenix
MBA 540 – Maximizing Shareholder Wealth
November 11, 2008
Introduction
In today’s competitive business environment, companies must be adept at finding ways to enhance competitive advantage. Many firms employ strategies that would bolster products and services, as well expand business scopes. Fueled by globalization – and other factors – companies turn to mergers and acquisitions as solutions to the dilemma of expanding business scales. The strategy of mergers and acquisitions deals with the buying, selling and combining of companies with the intention of increasing profits and expanding market shares.
Team C will address the issues of internal and external growth strategies, describe working capital management strategies to maximize shareholder wealth, the challenges of cross-border growth strategies, assess organizational performance using financial statement and ratio analysis and describe the role of portfolio management in the allocation of corporate process. The companies that are benchmarked cover course concepts are Microsoft and Yahoo, Google and Nokia, Acer and Toshiba, AT&T and Sears Holdings, and Motorola and Texas Instruments.
Lester Electronics (LEI) faces some major dilemmas as one of its biggest suppliers and accounts for about 43% of its revenue. LEI is being pursued by Avral Electronics SA (AE) to expand AE’s distribution market in the United States. LEI must perform a diligent analysis of which route will benefit LEI’s market and the optimal solution for its shareholders.
Internal and External Growth Strategies
LEI is contemplating on acquiring Shang-Wa Electronics (SWE) or to be acquired by Transactional Electronics Corporation (TEC). If LEI chose to acquire SWE, LEI would prevent TEC from acquiring SWE. LEI could compare companies like AT&T on its external strategic growth with the acquisition of BellSouth Corp in...