This honors thesis for Barrett, the Honors College at Arizona State University provides an analysis of a leveraged buyout (LBO) of Foot Locker. This thesis serves to demonstrate how a fictional private equity firm would acquire a company through an LBO. The project provides insight onto what private equity firms do, the background of Foot Locker, and an industry analysis on the sector that Foot Locker operates in. The thesis looks to provide a deeper understanding of the fair value of Foot Locker using a discounted cash flow (DCF) analysis, comparable company analysis, and precedent transaction analysis. Included is a pitchbook, the DCF model, and LBO model.

The Supply Chain of a company is the most critical component of a business as it directly impacts a company’s ability to deliver products/services to customers is a timely, cost effective method. With this amount of importance, a resilient supply chain is pivotal for positive future earnings in each successive quarter. Two pivotal metrics to gauge a Supply Chain include Production Delays and Excess Inventory. Through in-depth analysis, it was found that these metrics had caused abnormal amounts of price volatility with a stock’s performance. Understanding these metrics, the impact and lesson that COVID had taught, and analyzing earnings transcripts of publicly traded company’s demonstrates the use of Supply Chain health in comparison to company performance. This thesis aims to examine how a company's supply chain affects its performance, by analyzing different metrics and disruptions that have caused significant volatility in the stock market. The objective is to help investors maximize their profitability or reduce their risk by identifying the key factors that impact a company's supply chain.