To accomplish this goal would not be easy. Not only was the proposed amount hefty, GECC thought it was important not to overload any one capital market. So GECC, which does business in 20 currencies, tapped into new markets such as the Australian dollar, Norwegian krone and Swedish kronor. Innovative products such as extendible monthly securities were also used.

GECC didn't ignore more traditional markets or tools, such as multi-tranche corporate bonds. But by targeting a diversity of markets in terms of both geography and type of instrument, GECC also diversified its investment risk. "We had always communicated to investors that even though we are big, we try to manage issuance programs in a responsible way," says Yoh. By year end, GE had raised $88 billion in term debt, and commercial paper was reduced $33 billion, creating a stronger balance sheet.

To maintain accountability throughout the process, GE notified shareholders of its plan and provided regular updates on progress. Fixed-income investors were also kept informed. "That has given them comfort," Yoh says. "If we say we're going to execute on a particular plan, it's something we believe is doable."

CORPORATE FINANCE – Silver

Comcast

When Comcast Corp. purchased AT&T Broadband for $50 billion late last year, it was digesting a company 150% its size with a combined subscriber list of 26.7 million, making it the largest cable and broadband operator in the world. Given the markets at that point and the palpable distaste for the telecom sector, Comcast's treasury faced substantial challenges raising the financing to complete the transaction, which called for $25 billion in Comcast common stock to be issued to AT&T shareholders, $20 billion in assumed and exchanged debt and $5 billion in repayment of debt to AT&T. "From a financial standpoint, we had to tap the markets in the third and fourth quarters of 2002," says Bill Dordelman, vice president of finance. "We were doing this with the wind in our face."

One of the first steps was to select assets that could be sold to raise money that would reduce the combined company's debt. The largest was a 27.6% interest in the Time Warner Entertainment partnership. The eventual sale of the partnership interest back to AOL Time Warner garnered Comcast $2.1 billion in cash, $1.5 billion in AOL common stock and 21% of AOL Time Warner's cable business.

But Comcast also had to go raise capital. The newly formed cable and broadcast powerhouse tapped $17 billion in bank facilities. Comcast also completed $3.5 billion in bond exchanges and sold another $4 billion in corporate bonds early this year. "Hard work, strong relationships in the financial community and a little luck got us to where we needed to be," says Dordelman.

CORPORATE FINANCE – Bronze

Microsoft

In mid 2002, one of Microsoft's largest facilities management contracts was set to expire. Rather than simply negotiate a new contract, Microsoft decided to begin an evaluation of the contract arrangement for its entire 14.4 million square feet of facilities space. "We were looking for an opportunity to save costs by bundling as well as improve the Microsoft environment," says Bob Kaplan, global campus manager at Microsoft.

But Microsoft's space was spread across five locations: the 8.1 million square foot Puget Sound campus and four regional campuses. In addition, the total facilities portfolio was also slated to grow. To accomplish their goal, Microsoft treasury managers knew they needed buy-in from multiple business groups. "It was identifying what the potential benefits were and talking to business leaders," says Kaplan. The challenge, he says, was building a strong communications network, later solved by scheduling regular project meetings and appointing a single campus contact.

Like most such projects, it meant getting competitive bids from multiple providers, identifying the list of services needed at each site and developing an assessment methodology. But Microsoft went a step further, inviting each campus to participate in the selection process and not requiring them to use the final vendor. "That made them willing to buy in," says Kaplan. "It was really a collaborative process."

CORPORATE FINANCE – Bronze

Stanley Works

The Stanley Works turned to a Web-based technology tool called Orbian when it decided to improve its cash flow and cut working capital by launching a terms-expansion program. Created by Citibank, the Orbian system allows Stanley Works to promise to pay vendors on a specific due date. With the pledge comes a confirmation detailing the future payments and a Web link to payment details. Before that, Stanley Works used physical checks. Because of the certainty of payment, vendors can now secure much better terms on their financing for accounts receivable. Of course, Orbian only selects high-grade vendors with debt ratings of A or higher. "Orbian allows our vendors to get invoice-level financing at a cost that is closer to my cost of funds than theirs," says Craig Douglas, a vice president and treasurer at Stanley Works. "It's a major innovation."

The advantage to Stanley Works: The tool manufacturer can increase its own leverage by extending terms another 30 days on about half of the purchases made in the United States. Its three-year goal is to increase accounts payable leverage by $91 million on expenditures of $847 million. The company has already made substantial progress-payable leverage stood at $32 million by the end of the first year. Douglas sees it as a winning solution for both sides. "Vendors can get paid any time they want," he says, "and we can do business with zero working capital."