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Balance Sheet Detective

05/2011-5791
This case was written by Elizabeth Demers, Assistant Professor of Accounting and Control at INSEAD. It is intended to be used as a basis for class discussion rather than to illustrate either effective or ineffective handling of an administrative situation.
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Exhibit 1 shows the common-size, fiscal year 2005 balance sheets of 9 companies operating in different industries and headquartered in various countries, as described below. Use your economic intuition and the financial information cues provided in the common-size balance sheets to match the companies and industries described below with those depicted in the exhibit. O
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EDF (France)

Electricité de France (EDF) is a large French utility company that was recently privatized via an initial public offering. The company's principal activity is the generation, transmission, distribution, import and export of electricity and other forms of energy. The Group has operations in France, United Kingdom, Spain, Belgium, Switzerland, Germany, Poland, Italy,
Slovakia, Hungary, US, Mexico, Morocco, China, Brazil, Ivory Coast, Laos, Vietnam and
South Africa.

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Google (USA)

HJ Heinz (USA)

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Google is a profitable, cash flow positive internet company whose principal activity is to provide advertising solutions, global internet search solutions through its internet site, and intranet solutions via an enterprise search appliance. It maintains an online index of websites and other content. Trademarks include