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The Edificio Espana: A Global Investor Meets Local Politics Net Present Value (NPV) / MBA Resources

Introduction to Net Present Value (NPV) - What is Net Present Value (NPV) ? How it impacts financial decisions regarding project management?

NPV solution for The Edificio Espana: A Global Investor Meets Local Politics case study


At Oak Spring University, we provide corporate level professional Net Present Value (NPV) case study solution. The Edificio Espana: A Global Investor Meets Local Politics case study is a Harvard Business School (HBR) case study written by Klaus Meyer, Alicia Wang, Tomaz Fittipaldi. The The Edificio Espana: A Global Investor Meets Local Politics (referred as “Edificio Wang's” from here on) case study provides evaluation & decision scenario in field of Global Business. It also touches upon business topics such as - Value proposition, Policy, Risk management.

The net present value (NPV) of an investment proposal is the present value of the proposal’s net cash flows less the proposal’s initial cash outflow. If a project’s NPV is greater than or equal to zero, the project should be accepted.

NPV = Present Value of Future Cash Flows LESS Project’s Initial Investment






Case Description of The Edificio Espana: A Global Investor Meets Local Politics Case Study


The Dalian Wanda Group Co. Ltd. (Wanda) was a fast-growing real estate imperium in China, built by Jianlin Wang, the wealthiest man in China. In 2010, Wang transformed Wanda into an entertainment conglomerate and initiated an ambitious international growth strategy. His ambitions knew few limits; however, one of his acquisitions-the Edificio EspaA?a in Spain, an iconic historical building in the centre of Madrid-ran into difficulties due to conflicts with the local authorities. Wang's refurbishment plans for Edificio EspaA?a envisaged a comprehensive renovation and upgrade of the building's commercial spaces, which required approvals from the Local Historical Heritage Commission. Initially, politicians expressed their support for Wang's plan, but the application progressed slowly through the formal process and became entangled in local politics. A local election mid-process resulted in a new party gaining control of the city council-a governing party that was not supportive of Wang's plans. Should Wang cut his losses and sell the building, or persist and reboot his project management?


Case Authors : Klaus Meyer, Alicia Wang, Tomaz Fittipaldi

Topic : Global Business

Related Areas : Policy, Risk management




Calculating Net Present Value (NPV) at 6% for The Edificio Espana: A Global Investor Meets Local Politics Case Study


Years              Cash Flow     Net Cash Flow     Cumulative    
Cash Flow
Discount Rate
@ 6 %
Discounted
Cash Flows
Year 0 (10013357) -10013357 - -
Year 1 3451031 -6562326 3451031 0.9434 3255690
Year 2 3979446 -2582880 7430477 0.89 3541693
Year 3 3950439 1367559 11380916 0.8396 3316865
Year 4 3249706 4617265 14630622 0.7921 2574072
TOTAL 14630622 12688319




The Net Present Value at 6% discount rate is 2674962

In isolation the NPV number doesn't mean much but put in right context then it is one of the best method to evaluate project returns. In this article we will cover -

Different methods of capital budgeting


What is NPV & Formula of NPV,
How it is calculated,
How to use NPV number for project evaluation, and
Scenario Planning given risks and management priorities.




Capital Budgeting Approaches

Methods of Capital Budgeting


There are four types of capital budgeting techniques that are widely used in the corporate world –

1. Payback Period
2. Net Present Value
3. Profitability Index
4. Internal Rate of Return

Apart from the Payback period method which is an additive method, rest of the methods are based on Discounted Cash Flow technique. Even though cash flow can be calculated based on the nature of the project, for the simplicity of the article we are assuming that all the expected cash flows are realized at the end of the year.

Discounted Cash Flow approaches provide a more objective basis for evaluating and selecting investment projects. They take into consideration both –

1. Magnitude of both incoming and outgoing cash flows – Projects can be capital intensive, time intensive, or both. Edificio Wang's shareholders have preference for diversified projects investment rather than prospective high income from a single capital intensive project.
2. Timing of the expected cash flows – stockholders of Edificio Wang's have higher preference for cash returns over 4-5 years rather than 10-15 years given the nature of the volatility in the industry.






Formula and Steps to Calculate Net Present Value (NPV) of The Edificio Espana: A Global Investor Meets Local Politics

NPV = Net Cash In Flowt1 / (1+r)t1 + Net Cash In Flowt2 / (1+r)t2 + … Net Cash In Flowtn / (1+r)tn
Less Net Cash Out Flowt0 / (1+r)t0

Where t = time period, in this case year 1, year 2 and so on.
r = discount rate or return that could be earned using other safe proposition such as fixed deposit or treasury bond rate. Net Cash In Flow – What the firm will get each year.
Net Cash Out Flow – What the firm needs to invest initially in the project.

Step 1 – Understand the nature of the project and calculate cash flow for each year.
Step 2 – Discount those cash flow based on the discount rate.
Step 3 – Add all the discounted cash flow.
Step 4 – Selection of the project

Why Global Business Managers need to know Financial Tools such as Net Present Value (NPV)?

In our daily workplace we often come across people and colleagues who are just focused on their core competency and targets they have to deliver. For example marketing managers at Edificio Wang's often design programs whose objective is to drive brand awareness and customer reach. But how that 30 point increase in brand awareness or 10 point increase in customer touch points will result into shareholders’ value is not specified.

To overcome such scenarios managers at Edificio Wang's needs to not only know the financial aspect of project management but also needs to have tools to integrate them into part of the project development and monitoring plan.

Calculating Net Present Value (NPV) at 15%

After working through various assumptions we reached a conclusion that risk is far higher than 6%. In a reasonably stable industry with weak competition - 15% discount rate can be a good benchmark.



Years              Cash Flow     Net Cash Flow     Cumulative    
Cash Flow
Discount Rate
@ 15 %
Discounted
Cash Flows
Year 0 (10013357) -10013357 - -
Year 1 3451031 -6562326 3451031 0.8696 3000897
Year 2 3979446 -2582880 7430477 0.7561 3009033
Year 3 3950439 1367559 11380916 0.6575 2597478
Year 4 3249706 4617265 14630622 0.5718 1858030
TOTAL 10465437


The Net NPV after 4 years is 452080

(10465437 - 10013357 )








Calculating Net Present Value (NPV) at 20%


If the risk component is high in the industry then we should go for a higher hurdle rate / discount rate of 20%.

Years              Cash Flow     Net Cash Flow     Cumulative    
Cash Flow
Discount Rate
@ 20 %
Discounted
Cash Flows
Year 0 (10013357) -10013357 - -
Year 1 3451031 -6562326 3451031 0.8333 2875859
Year 2 3979446 -2582880 7430477 0.6944 2763504
Year 3 3950439 1367559 11380916 0.5787 2286134
Year 4 3249706 4617265 14630622 0.4823 1567181
TOTAL 9492678


The Net NPV after 4 years is -520679

At 20% discount rate the NPV is negative (9492678 - 10013357 ) so ideally we can't select the project if macro and micro factors don't allow financial managers of Edificio Wang's to discount cash flow at lower discount rates such as 15%.





Acceptance Criteria of a Project based on NPV

Simplest Approach – If the investment project of Edificio Wang's has a NPV value higher than Zero then finance managers at Edificio Wang's can ACCEPT the project, otherwise they can reject the project. This means that project will deliver higher returns over the period of time than any alternate investment strategy.

In theory if the required rate of return or discount rate is chosen correctly by finance managers at Edificio Wang's, then the stock price of the Edificio Wang's should change by same amount of the NPV. In real world we know that share price also reflects various other factors that can be related to both macro and micro environment.

In the same vein – accepting the project with zero NPV should result in stagnant share price. Finance managers use discount rates as a measure of risk components in the project execution process.

Sensitivity Analysis

Project selection is often a far more complex decision than just choosing it based on the NPV number. Finance managers at Edificio Wang's should conduct a sensitivity analysis to better understand not only the inherent risk of the projects but also how those risks can be either factored in or mitigated during the project execution. Sensitivity analysis helps in –

What are the key aspects of the projects that need to be monitored, refined, and retuned for continuous delivery of projected cash flows.

What are the uncertainties surrounding the project Initial Cash Outlay (ICO’s). ICO’s often have several different components such as land, machinery, building, and other equipment.

What can impact the cash flow of the project.

What will be a multi year spillover effect of various taxation regulations.

Understanding of risks involved in the project.

Some of the assumptions while using the Discounted Cash Flow Methods –

Projects are assumed to be Mutually Exclusive – This is seldom the came in modern day giant organizations where projects are often inter-related and rejecting a project solely based on NPV can result in sunk cost from a related project.

Independent projects have independent cash flows – As explained in the marketing project – though the project may look independent but in reality it is not as the brand awareness project can be closely associated with the spending on sales promotions and product specific advertising.






Negotiation Strategy of The Edificio Espana: A Global Investor Meets Local Politics

References & Further Readings

Klaus Meyer, Alicia Wang, Tomaz Fittipaldi (2018), "The Edificio Espana: A Global Investor Meets Local Politics Harvard Business Review Case Study. Published by HBR Publications.


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