Course overview
M&A Bootcamp
Gain a 360-degree view of the overall M&A process, so you can anticipate next steps and be more effective managing the deal process. Participants leverage case studies and frameworks to understand how different diligence workflows fit together, identify patterns, and begin to think more like an investor.
This hybrid course combines the flexibility of on-demand learning with the structure and support of live coursework. Work through the digital course ahead of the scheduled live session(s) and come prepared to work through the material with a PE Primer Deal Guide and the rest of your cohort.
This hybrid course combines the flexibility of on-demand learning with the structure and support of live coursework. Work through the digital course ahead of the scheduled live session(s) and come prepared to work through the material with a PE Primer Deal Guide and the rest of your cohort.
Chicago, July 14, 2025 8:30 AM to 5:30 PM CT, 1 hour lunch
Decoding Private Equity
M&A Professions / Audience
Financial Due Diligence
Investment Banking
Leveraged Lending
Private Equity
Universities
Experience Level
Emerging M&A Pros
Delivery
In person:
1 Day
1 Day
Course Details
Essential Business Skills
- Habits That Create Value & Their Applicability to Careers in M&A
- Personal Execution Process: Imagining & Managing the Day©
- Fundamentals: Active Reading, Listening, & Note-taking
- Fundamentals: Synthesize & Reflect
- Fundamentals: The Art of Asking Good Questions
- Fundamentals: Framing, Language, & Communication
The M&A Process
- Cast of Characters: Buyers & Sellers, and Their Many Advisers
- Financial vs. Strategic Investors
- Different Types of Investors & Form of Investment
- Where Investors Sit Along the Risk / Reward Continuum
- Primary vs. Secondary Capital
- Pre-Money vs. Post-Money Valuations
- Business Lifecycle & The Investment Continuum
- Major Milestones in the Transaction Process
- Common Diligence Workflows & Third-Party Advisers
- M&A Process Considerations & Impact
- Diligence Advisory Firms & Process Type
Foundational Questions©
- Introduction to Foundational Questions©
- Foundational Questions© as the Question Behind the Question
- Project / Client Foundational Questions©
- Company / Target Foundational Questions©
- Foundational Questions© Exercise
Learning to Think Like an Investor
- How Businesses are Valued
- Relative and Absolute Value
- Free Cash Flow (“FCF”)
- Three Sought-After Attributes of FCF
- Desirable Business Traits & Their Impact on FCF
- The Importance of Perspective
- Risk & Opportunity
- Billionaires Brawl
Case Study: Applying Pattern Recognition*
- Identifying Business Characteristics & Their Impact on Value
- Team Exercise and Class Discussion / Presentation
Strategic Investor Overview
- Varied Acquisition Strategies
- M&A Diversification Strategies
- Strategic Rationale
- Other Select Considerations
Intro to Private Equity
- Private Equity vs. Institutional Private Equity
- Private Equity vs. Public Equity Comparison
- Other Investor Types Similar to Private Equity
How Private Equity Works
- Private Equity’s Prominence & Reach
- How a Buyout Works
- How Institutional PE Works
- Investment Horizon / Hold Period
- How PE Firms are Structured: A Simplified Example
- PE Firms as Broader Multi-Strategy Asset Managers
- PE Firm Activities
- The Investment Box
- The PE Deal Funnel
- AUM vs. Fund Size vs. Dry Powder
- Other People’s Money
- How PE Returns Are Measured
- The Three Ways PE Firms Make Money
Due Diligence Defined
- Due Diligence Defined
- Intuition Building: Due Diligence Applied to Other Asset Purchases
Select Diligence Frameworks
- Foundational Questions©
- Perspective & Point-of-View
- Prioritization & Decision Gates
- Build Intuition: Establish Bookends & Fermi Math
- Finding Insights in Contradictions
- SOPs & Checklists
The Cost of Diligence Misses
- Examination of Poor or Missed Diligence Workflows
- Evaluation of Two Real World Situations and How Diligence Might Have Been Completed Differently
Case Study: Prioritizing Diligence to Enhance Decision Making*
- Prioritizing & Identifying Key Business & Diligence Issues
- Team Exercise and Class Discussion / Presentation
*Only available as part of the live course.
Certificate
Certificate of completion upon passing grade of 70% on final assessment
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