Mergers and acquisitions are a phenomenon which can occur for a variety of reasons. It may for example be that the organizations want to gain larger market shares or to complement and learn from each other and thus become more competitive. After the completion of an acquisition or merger, a process is initiated to create an affiliation between the two companies' employees. The purpose of this paper is to examine whether there is something that management can do to make the integration process as efficient as possible. The empirical research in this paper consisted of interviews and surveys with respondents from two accounting firms that recently completed a merger.

Previous work by researchers as Eugene F. Fama and Kenneth R. French, show that average return on stocks are related to a firms characteristics like size and book-to-market ratio. These kinds of patterns in average return is not explained by The Capital Asset Pricing Model (CAPM), and are therefore seen as anomalies. Fama and French have proposed a three-factor model, which captures patterns observed in U.S average returns associated with size and value.

Previous studies have shown that there is a relationship between voluntary disclosure and analysts' forecast accuracy. However, there has been no research conducted specifically on bridges. Bridges contain information on how components such as price, volume, foreign exchange rates and acquisitions have impacted the financial performance between two periods. The main purpose of this thesis is to investigate the usage of bridges in quarterly financial information of companies listed on Nasdaq Stockholm. We provide a descriptive mapping of bridges and find that 30 out of 268 companies are presenting bridges as a part of their voluntary disclosures, with large firms being the most frequent users.

Background: Increasingly, companies choose to finance their business with corporate bonds which has resulted in an increased demand on credit ratings. As such the rating agencies have a very important role in the financial markets. Examining the value of a credit-rating can be very interesting for both issuer and investor. Purpose: The purpose of the study is to identify and define the value of rating. Execution: The study is built upon nine interviews with rated and non-rated firms and investors.

The interest in businesses active on the countryside and their funding situation has increased in recent years. In a survey, conducted by Leif Berndtsson (2003), it was reported that there is a lack of external capital in rural areas. According to Berndtsson (2003) the lack of external capital inhibits the rural firm?s growth. The essay attempts to answer whether the shortage of external capital is a factor that inhibits development for rural businesses.

This thesis examines a project that has been conducted at a software development company. The aim is to investigate which problems firms of this kind faces performing projects. We choose a theoretical frame consisting of a modern view on how to manage projects. The view argues that the management of each project has to be adapted to the situation at hand. This theory is divided into two separate streams of reasoning; one emphasize learning, delegation of responsibility and flexibility, while the other argues for control, time planning and the importance of keeping to the plans.When we compare the theories to the case we draw three main conclusions: A thorough phase of investigation is required to produce the necessary planning documents.

Managing credit risk might be the single most important business area for any commercial bank. The assessment of "good" and "bad" corporate clients is a important task for a creditor. A bad debtor is a corporate client with hardships in meeting the continous claims (interest payments) that a creditor requires. One way of evaluating or separating a "bad" client from a "good" client is to assess the propensity for the client to file for bankruptcy. This thesis examines 226 firms in the Swedsh market in the quest of predicting corporate bankruptcy.

Abstract: Private equity used to be synonymous with tremendous yields and rates of return. However, the private equity market trembled in 2008, due to the financial meltdown caused by the worldwide credit crisis. Considering the current low number of exits within the private equity industry, the purpose of this thesis is to examine if there has been any change in how private equity firms control their portfolio companies since the inception of the crisis. One private equity company and two portfolio companies have been studied. The case study is prepared from interviews with senior directors in the portfolio company and investment managers in the private equity firm.

 This paper evaluates the effect of exchange rate risk on the sum of bilateral trade. To distinguish the effect between different types of countries, two groups are defined: advanced and developing economies. Economic theory on exchange rate risk and trade proposes ambiguous effects of increased volatility. However, the ex ante hypothesis is that developing economies are more sensitive to volatility. Contrarily to the hypothesis, the empirical results suggest that advanced economies would benefit up to twice as much from a removal of exchange rate risk.

Vad styr valet av revisionsbyrå? Revisionsbyråers kunder kan ha svårt att uppfatta konkreta skillnader mellan byråernas revision, då dess utformning är standardiserad. Revisionens homogena utformning, kravet på oberoende i relation med företaget som ska revideras, vissa normer vid prissättningen av revision och kravet på saklighet i marknadskommunikationen medför begränsningar för revisionsbyråerna när det gäller differentiering av revisionstjänsten. Vi ville komma fram till vad i revisionsbyråernas marknadsföring som köpande bolag attraheras av samt vad som utmärker bolag som reagerar på en viss konkurrensfördel. Kundens köpbeteende kan förklaras utifrån dess preferenser och bakgrund.

Accounting is a well discussed topic, and an important tool that allows stakeholders and others to interact with the companies. To gain credible reports, the companies require maintenance, activities and monitoring. Wholesalers account for approximately 20% of Sweden's net and is increasing at a steady pace. Few studies on wholesalers are acquired and the internal control has shown to be important for the preparation of the financial statements.Therefore the study will be focusing on the smaller wholesaler?s internal control, all the way to the financial statements.

Aim: The purpose of this study is to examine and analyze how insurance companies work to create value and confidence in their brands and then compare whether consumers perceive brands as companies seek.Method: The study is a gap analysis of both qualitative and quantitative in nature containing both interviews with insurance companies and a survey carried out on consumers. The study has been developed by analytical induction.Data: Consists of interviews with representatives from the insurance companies and survey responses from 99 consumers.Conclusion: From the study it can be concluded that the insurance industry is unique in its kind as a difficulty and complexity is obviously applicable to convey an overall impression to the consumer, which in turn will produce a brand value to the company. Creating a high brand value through good marketing where it maintained a good congruence between firms striving and consumer perception, is according to the scientists complicated because the lack of perceived quality affects the the big picture..

Background: The difference between the market value and the book value of the companies has dramatically increased. One explanation is that the inflow of capital on the market has increased. Another explanation is that companies have a larger share of intellectual capital. The question is how this has influenced the company-valuator's use of valuation-models? Purpose: The purpose of this study is to find out what relevance the substance valuation model has, the DCF-model has, and also discover new valuation-models, among company-valuators.

The aim of this small thesis is to investigate if the probability of business failure is higher at the time of divestment than at the time of acquisition for portfolio companies that have been subject to private equity ownership. The background for this thesis is the widespread critique aimed at private equity firms, claiming that they increase the risk in their portfolio companies. We have performed a study of 53 buyout transactions, involving Swedish manufacturing companies, covering a time span of 13 years, from 1995 to 2007. We find evidence of an increased risk of business failure for the portfolio companies with a short forecasting horizon (within one year). The absolute increase in the sample is however small.

Innovation has been identified as one of the key factors for economic growth long ago. However, the emergence of ?knowledge century? further strengthened the role of the concept since proper management of the knowledge is essential to make the best out of the innovative capacity of the companies as well as the countries. This necessitates a balanced intellectual property rights (IPR) systems, since these rights provide the basis to solve the market failures faced by innovating firms by creating property rights over knowledge. There is an inherent dilemma between invention and diffusion.