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Case Study

Swisscom ventures digital transformation fund: CVC’S pitch for the future

By Bettina Büchel, Alejandro Mora Sojo, Alain Nydegger, Klaus Jørgensen and Benjamin Toulouze

20 pages

October 2019

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Reference: IMD-7-2089

The case is designed to prompt considerations of the advantages and disadvantages of accepting external money from institutional investors into the corporate venture capital fund (CVC) for Swisscom. Our protagonist Dominique Megret, the head of the CVC, is placed in a situation which exposes him to c-suite pressures which test his ability and conviction to argue his selected path. The historical analysis showed patterns of initial vs follow-up investments, and the strategic horizon of the investments which essentially set out to support Swisscom’s growth intentions. Organic internal options are mentioned as alternatives. As the financial means to continue to invest are limited by Swisscom, the company sets out to find external partners to co-invest – at the time an unusual path towards keeping growth options option. Megret has to convince his board that this is a good option for Swisscom.

Learning Objective

How to articulate the benefit of a CVC.
How to form and present an opinion whether external money should be taken, while considering scenarios, mitigating actions, and long-term impacts to telecommunication companies.
How to best shape a portfolio of investments

Keywords

Corporate Venture Capital, Deal, Exit Strategy, Portfolio Management

Settings

Swisscom, Services, Telecommunications
2007-2018 (Q1)

Type

Field Research

Available Languages

English

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Teaching note

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