Smith School Hosts Second Annual Mergers & Acquisitions Competition: Chicago GSB Takes First Prize

The Smith School was proud to host the Second Annual Mergers & Acquisitions Competition on Oct. 16 and 17. The event, organized by Smith’s MBA Finance Association, challenged teams of MBA students from leading business schools to create and deliver M&A pitches to a panel of executive judges. Students from the University of Chicago’s Graduate School of Business won the $5,000 first prize. Purdue University’s Krannert School of Management’s students took the $2,500 second prize, and Brigham Young University’s Marriott School of Management’s students won the $1,000 third prize.

“While economic events sweeping through Wall Street have altered the landscape for mergers and acquisitions, they have not changed the need for skilled graduates,” said G. “Anand” Anandalingam, dean of the Robert H. Smith School of Business. “For companies with funds on their balance sheets this is a prime opportunity to take advantage of targets’ low share prices. This competition gives business students the opportunity to hone valuable and needed experience under tight deadline pressure that very much mirrors the conditions of the real world.”

Teams were tasked with creating a persuasive argument to a hypothetical case — strategic merger and acquisition alternatives for Dell — while under deadline and using real-time financial data. Most teams worked through the night, gathering data and finalizing their presentations, then pitched their recommendations to a team of judges who selected four teams to advance to a final round.

Chicago GSB’s winning suggestion was for Dell to acquire Computer Science Corporation (CSC). The team stressed the importance of retaining key CSC executives, reducing only 3% of current CSC staff and preserving the stellar customer service for which CSC is known. With $400 million predicted in total revenue synergies and the concept of a splash marketing campaign to back up their suggestions, the Chicago team pitched a winning strategy.

Other presentations were delivered by participating teams from Brigham Young University, Carnegie Mellon University, Georgetown University, New York University, Purdue University, Texas Christian University, University of Chicago, University of Maryland, University of Rochester, and University of Wisconsin-Madison.

The event was supported by title-level sponsor KPMG Corporate Finance and gold-level sponsor Marriott International Inc. Representatives from the sponsoring companies served as judges for the competition.

“In our business, we are out doing this every day, so there is a real real-life component to this competition,” said Stephen Gaines, managing director, KPMG Corporate Finance and a final-round judge. “The teams that came out on top were those that came together and had complimentary skills, and could show passion about what they believed, even if the judges were questioning it.”

At the awards ceremony, final-round judge Jim Diller, CFA, Director of Mergers & Acquisitions for the Corporate Finance & Business Development Group, Marriott International, complimented the Smith School on the caliber of MBA they are able to produce, tipping his hat to the recent graduate he brought with him to the competition. He then offered the competing teams sage advice from Warren Buffett to carry into their professional careers: “Be greedy when others are fearful.” In an economic downturn, this is ostentatious advice, but given the tenacity and innovation of the teams present, it was no doubt taken to heart.