Mergers & Acquisitions

The course focuses on Mergers & Acquisitions (M&A) in modern financial markets. Combining relevant theories and real-life cases, the students will learn the fundamentals of M&A transactions, including their economic background, strategies, planning and conduction, value implications and related further issues. The course starts with a general overview of corporate governance structures and markets for corporate control. Based on this knowledge, students will learn the approach to and the structuring of a full-fledged M&A deal. The strategy of the deal, as well as the deal process, payments and post-merger integrations will all be explained. A vital part of this process is the pricing of the deal. Company valuation will therefore be an important part of the course.

Different approaches to valuing a company will be understood, with special emphasis on M&A topics, such as the valuation of synergies or control rights. Special cases of M&A deals, such as Hostile Takeovers will be explained subsequently. The course will end with a lecture on M&A-related corporate restructurings, such as divestitures, spin-offs and carve-outs. At the end of the course, the students should be able to understand the economics of modern-day corporate M&A transactions. The observation of M&A cases will help the students to deepen their knowledge about M&A and about the application of the learned techniques in real life.

Upon completion of the course, you will be able to understand

• Why companies engage in M&A transactions
• The characteristics of different kinds of M&A deals: mergers, acquisitions, spin-offs,divestitures, carve-outs etc.
• How M&A processes are structured
• The fundamentals of pricing: how to value different kinds of companies (startups, SMEs, large conglomerates, companies bought out in Leveraged Buyout deals)
• How hostile takeovers work and how companies can defend against them