M&A – M&A Process
Articles
The M&A Sell-Side Process: A Step-by-Step Guide from an Investment Bank's Perspective
The sell-side M&A process explained from the bank's perspective: all 10 phases, from teaser and CIM through binding offers to signing and closing. Jetzt üben.
Why Do Companies Merge? Strategic vs. Financial Buyers Explained
M&A rationale explained: why companies acquire instead of growing organically, how strategic and financial buyers value targets differently, and when a deal creates value.
How to Answer 'Why Do Companies Do M&A?' in an Interview
A structured framework for answering the classic M&A interview question, plus a worked example showing how to test whether a deal actually creates value.
Strategic vs. Financial Buyer: The 3 Types of M&A Buyers Explained
Strategic acquirer, private equity fund, or family office — every M&A buyer type has different motivations, financing, and a different price ceiling. Here's how they differ.
How to Answer "Walk Me Through the Types of M&A Buyers" in an Interview
A step-by-step framework for answering the classic M&A interview question on strategic, private equity, and family office buyers — with a worked numerical example.
What Is a Merger Consequences Model? Key Assumptions Explained
A merger consequences model combines acquirer and target financials to test if a deal is EPS-accretive or dilutive. Learn the key assumptions that drive the output.
How to Answer "Walk Me Through a Merger Model" in an Interview
A step-by-step framework for answering the merger consequences / accretion-dilution question in finance interviews, plus the follow-up most candidates miss.
What Is a MAC Clause in M&A? Material Adverse Change Explained
A plain-English guide to Material Adverse Change (MAC) clauses in M&A agreements: what they protect against, common carve-outs, and why they're rarely successfully invoked.
How to Answer MAC Clause Questions in an M&A Interview
How to structure an answer when an interviewer asks you to assess whether an event triggers a Material Adverse Change (MAC) clause, with the framework and a worked example.
What Makes Cross-Border M&A in Germany So Complex? Tax, Co-Determination, and Culture Explained
Cross-border M&A in the DACH region: why German tax structuring, co-determination and cultural integration make deals harder than the model implies. Jetzt üben.
Cross-Border M&A Interview Question: How to Value a DACH Acquisition Step by Step
How do you value a DACH acquisition in an interview? A five-step framework covering tax leakage, co-determination delay and risk-adjusted synergies. Jetzt üben.
What Is a Material Adverse Change (MAC) Clause in M&A?
A plain-English guide to Material Adverse Change (MAC) clauses in M&A deals: what they cover, why they're rarely invoked successfully, and how the Tiffany-LVMH dispute shows the clause in action.
How to Answer MAC Clause Interview Questions (With the Tiffany-LVMH Case)
A step-by-step framework for answering Material Adverse Change (MAC) clause interview questions, illustrated with the real 2020 Tiffany-LVMH deal break and settlement.
What Is Private Equity Due Diligence? Commercial, Financial, and Operational DD Explained
What is private equity due diligence? Learn the commercial, financial, and operational DD workstreams and how PE firms prioritize them. Jetzt üben.
How to Answer PE Due Diligence Interview Questions: A Step-by-Step Framework
A step-by-step framework for answering private equity due diligence interview questions, with a worked prioritization example and follow-ups. Jetzt üben.
Sell-Side M&A Interview Questions and How to Answer Them
Sell-side M&A interview questions with model answers: the process walkthrough, buy-side vs sell-side, auction design, and the working capital peg. Jetzt üben.
The IPO Process Explained: Every Stage from Kick-Off to Lock-Up Expiry
What happens at each stage of an IPO, from kick-off to lock-up expiry? Learn the full process, the key terms and how interviewers test it. Practise now.
How to Calculate IPO Deal Size, Greenshoe and Free Float in an Interview
How do you size an IPO, calculate the greenshoe and work out free float in an interview? A full worked example with real numbers, step by step. Practise it now.
What Is the Greenshoe Option? Over-Allotment and IPO Stabilisation Explained
What is the greenshoe option and how does IPO stabilisation actually work? Over-allotment, the syndicate short and the MAR safe harbour explained. Learn it now.
Cases
What Is M&A and Why Do Companies Do It?
Why do companies pursue M&A instead of growing organically, and what's the difference between a strategic buyer and a financial buyer? Walk me through the main reasons companies do deals — and what typically causes those deals to destroy value instead of creating it.
Types of Buyers: Strategic, Private Equity, and Family Office
As a junior banker preparing a sell-side pitch, you are tasked with explaining how strategic acquirers, private equity buyers, and family offices differ in their motivations and required returns, and using that framework to estimate the enterprise value each buyer type would realistically offer for a mid-market target.
Merger Consequences Model
Combining two companies: key assumptions and what the output tells you
MAC Clause and Deal Closing Risk
Material adverse change: what qualifies, negotiation dynamics
M&A Due Diligence Priorities
What to check first, red flags by workstream, go/no-go framework
Cross-Border M&A: DACH Complexity
As an M&A associate advising a strategic acquirer, you are tasked with quantifying how German tax structuring rules, co-determination (Mitbestimmung) requirements, and cross-border cultural integration risk change the value of an otherwise straightforward acquisition of a DACH-region target.
MAC in Volatile Markets
As an M&A associate advising on deal risk, you are tasked with analyzing a real COVID-era deal break — LVMH's 2020 attempt to exit its agreement to acquire Tiffany & Co. — and assessing whether the buyer had a credible legal basis to invoke a Material Adverse Change clause, then quantifying the economic outcome of the settlement that followed.
The IPO Process A-Z
As an equity capital markets analyst, you are tasked with taking a family-owned industrial group through its IPO from the close of the order book to the expiry of the lock-up — sizing the offering and the greenshoe, showing what the company actually keeps after fees, and working out how much of the register is genuinely free to trade.
IPO Pricing and Stabilization
As an equity capital markets analyst, you are tasked with setting the final IPO price for a company from the demand recorded in its order book, sizing the offering once the over-allotment option is included, and showing how the stabilisation agent uses that option to support the share price after trading begins.