Corporate financing

Examples of current research questions:

• Which forms of financing are suitable for the ongoing financing of the business operation and for investments?
• How can companies choose from the forms of financing in a targeted manner?
• How should capital costs be appropriately determined?
• What steps are necessary to improve the creditworthiness of medium-sized companies?
• Which processes should be put in place for financing?
• How can young, innovative companies be financed until they reach the market?
• What can venture capital do for growth and innovation and how must it be structured?
• Is private equity suitable for company succession?
• Which valuation methods are used for the purchase or sale of a company?   
• How can entrepreneurs become active on the capital market themselves?
• How can private donors be involved?

Development of a training tool for improving the credit rating of SMEs (e-learning)

Project leader: Prof. Thomas Bahlinger
Employees: Matthias Bauer, M.A.
Project duration: March 2011 – February 2013
Background:
In order to improve the supply of credit to SMEs, it is essential to increase companies’ creditworthiness. This is because banks still base their credit checks on a detailed examination of the assets, financial position, and earnings performance (financial rating) of companies seeking capital. As a rule, however, SMEs neither have the necessary in-house financial expertise, nor do they have external consultants at their disposal to help them identify ways of improving their financial rating.
Objective:
Development of an innovative computer-based training tool to help small and medium-sized companies to:

1. obtain clarity about their current creditworthiness and
2. identify options for improving creditworthiness in the short and long term.

This project was financially supported by the European Union and the Free State of Bavaria.
Project sponsorship: Virtuelle Hochschule Bayern (Virtual University of Bavaria)

Development of a training tool for liquidity optimization in SMEs (e-learning)

Project leader: Prof. Thomas Bahlinger
Employee: Birgit Nausester, Dipl.-Kffr.
Project duration: October 2012 – September 2014
Background:
Liquidity is the most important corporate goal in the short term, more important than earning reasonable profits, because illiquidity is the most common reason for insolvency among small and medium-sized companies. In the absence of liquidity, companies can no longer pay outstanding invoices, wages and salaries, despite good sales. This can lead to a domino effect, with unpaid invoices from one company resulting in payment problems for other companies.
Liquidity shortages are not a problem specific to medium-sized companies, but liquidity problems are disproportionately common among small businesses. The reasons for this are that:
a)    small companies typically have a lot of capital tied up in fixed assets;
b)    small businesses suffer more from delayed payments;
c)    small companies often do not receive bridging loans during financial bottlenecks.
The aim of companies is therefore to improve their own liquidity through liquidity management. To achieve this, traditional bank loans must be supplemented by a more efficient use of other resources. Appropriate liquidity planning must also be carried out. As a rule, however, SMEs neither have the necessary in-house financial expertise, nor do they have external consultants at their disposal to help them identify ways of improving their liquidity situation.
Objective:
The training tool developed as part of the project is intended to help small and medium-sized enterprises to:

• obtain clarity about their liquidity situation;
• identify options for improving liquidity in the short, medium, and long term;
• invest excess liquidity in the most efficient way.

This project is financially supported by the European Union and the Free State of Bavaria.
Project sponsorship: Virtuelle Hochschule Bayern (Virtual University of Bavaria)