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With an innovative financing idea, Chicago GSB students beat their counterparts at Kellogg School of Management in the annual JP Morgan Mergers & Acquisitions Challenge January 6.
In this year’s mock case competition, student teams advised an automotive parts manufacturer on how to diversify its portfolio by taking over a small heating, ventilation, and air conditioning company.
While other teams recommended the firm acquire the HVAC company either as a stock deal, a cash deal, or a mix of the two, the winning team recommended a joint venture with a financial sponsor, said first-year student Brad Chandler. “There was one private equity firm that had already invested in another player in the industry; we recommended the automotive parts firm purchase both and have an even larger player in that market,” he said. “It was a fragmented market, so creating an even larger player made sense.”
Other first-year students on the winning team were Jeremy Falendysz, Fernando Kaelin, Ray Sturm, and Danielle Young; second-year student Francisco Brugueras also was a member.
Students picked up case information at 8:30 a.m. on January 5. Teams worked around the clock and made their presentations the following afternoon at JP Morgan offices in Chicago.
The GSB and Kellogg each fielded eight teams composed of six students. Teams were separated into two groups. The GSB team took first place in one while Kellogg won first prize in the other, but with combined scores, the GSB emerged victorious for the first time in five years.
Judges noted the creativity of the winning team’s idea, but presentation skills clearly counted, students said. “Every one of us got up and spoke, and had to think of interesting ways to present information,” said Chandler. Sturm agreed. “I think GSB students sometimes forget that the numbers were just one of many evaluating tools. This year, we rounded it out.”
—Patty Houlihan