Initially, the class was a frustrating experience as I struggled to find a middle ground between the knowledge and interests of both sets of students. A simulation forces the students to work together as teams and also teaches them a valuable lesson about the importance of business strategy and legal planning to fit together closely. Now, I have the professionally satisfying experience of overhearing one student use his or her own set of skills to explain to a classmate a complex legal or business concept. Stalking Bumblebee's are a large agricultural firm, MO-Agra, and an LBO firm, Smithers Burns. Also, Bumblebee's management is considering taking the firm private in a leveraged buyout.
Students divide into three teams, representing one of the companies.
The setting is in the United States, using relevant Delaware corporate law and federal securities law. Those roles give me just enough control over the simulation so nothing outrageous happens while retaining flexibility for the students to choose the strategic course of action they believe most appropriate. At the end of the semester, the students representing the company that acquires the target draft a merger agreement, and the other two teams litigate the outcome as invariably happens in American corporate acquisitions. The main simulation page contains a scrolling stock ticker, updating prices for companies involved in the simulation. There are separate pages for each team in the simulation.