Big 4 Mergers & Acquisitions (M&A) Interview Preparation | How to join M&A in Big 4s

0:00 himanshu Aditya great great guys

0:33 foreign

1:15 foreign

1:51 Abhishek and other viewers on YouTube and we are just waiting for her to join and then we'll start the session guys foreign

2:30 Investment Banking okay valuation I've also joined the session all right foreign

3:03 she has immense experience in the field of M M more than 15 years and she even Authority for the profiles of mergers and Acquisitions foreign and cue everyone

3:35 I hope I am loud and clear and there's no audio issues with anybody if it's perfectly fine perfectly fine all audio and video great grade questions

4:25 we would like to hear that from you Mom sure so so that there are two answers to this but population is more comfortable with English or in the year or both I think a mix is fine yeah so there are two answers to this a e so while we are talking this deal is being done by one of the big fours and secondly yes we get to work not

4:57 on deal of this size and stature but something which is much much sizable than this like I'm currently working on a deal which is valued at approx 2 billion dollars so that is the Quantum volume of deal that you get to manage that you get to be part of and before we directly jump on to what do we get to do I would also like to make everyone

5:30 understand how m a profile is basically structured because it is not how it it looks from outside it is very very different so maybe actually if you have questions structured around that then I'll take it as in when the questions come otherwise I can start with a brief introduction as well yes if that would be perfect we can start with a brief introduction about the profile and then I'll take up the questions which come in the chat sure so a quick introduction

5:58 for myself I am Niha Gupta I have dealed with M A for a little more than 15 years now and it has been a super super exciting journey and I can very proudly say that at least I am one of those employees who has not cripped even once in last 15 years so that's that's a kind of excitement that the profile has to operate it has so much of newness so much of exciting stuff like you open newspaper you read

6:29 about it and you you know you feel related that you have been part of this deal in some way or the other now M A is is very vast like no one individual can see the entire M A in itself because today we are in the world of specialization so someone who's able to initiate or deal an M A and goes on to

7:01 conclude and implement it is just not possible because there are various stages of an MLA and there are various facets of an MLA so we if we start with various stages of the MLA what how does m a work so basically firstly there will be a need of an m a which is also known as an inorganic way to grow

7:31 yeah so when a corporate feels that I need to upscale myself achieve a certain Revenue achieve a certain size the only two ways they can do it either they can grow organically where they walk on their capacity they expand they set up a new plant etc etc or if that's not the strategy then as someone very rightly wrote about Synergy they would look for more synergistic opportunities like if they are I'm sure all of you would have

8:02 heard terms like backward integration forward integration where is it that we are looking for adding on to more capacity are we looking to do that on the supplier side are we looking to do that on the market side or are we going to do that on the production sales distribution side and depending on that need depending on Need For That Synergy you would be looking

8:33 for a tablet that's where the real journey of an m a starts now there is a different perspective to that as well there will be some corporates and there may be few industry where there there are not so many players so the acquirer might be confident that I am looking for this ABC Target and then the journey starts with those limited to three targets

9:05 that I know that I need an asset but I don't know that out of 1000 Target companies which is the one which is the biggest fit for me that's where either the internal amenity of the group is Guru help them or they are going to hire a consultant a banker to show them deals now that Banker would understand what is the need what is the steel size that they are looking for culture foreign

9:42 so everything has to fit well for a deal to be successful so assuming targets have been shown something one or two Targets have been shortlisted but we have just gotten to see the candidate you just gotten to see the target how do you know whether you should go ahead with the acquisition or not how do you know what is the best price for it how do you know that cultural values Etc are going to match

10:13 we don't know it might be a bad deal it might be a failure at the end employees of both the companies might not real well the values and policies were not gel well so that's when the entire journey of an evaluation starts which Consulting fire form like ours too wherein we segment it into again different deal stages and different facets of the day so there are multiple ways of evaluating a Target we would look at the financial

10:44 we would look at the commercial side we would look at the forensic side of it we would look at the legal side of the target we would look at HR which is human resource it's it systems cases what about the Integrity of the promoters so that's also one part that people would like to see that what if you know the books are all cooked up what if the motors do not have a great history and they are not the set of

11:17 individuals you want to go and you know associate with so in those situation of very extensive detailed due to religions is conducted and based on the results of that due diligence that the buyer or the seller proceed with the m a okay now typically you would see that this diligences are conducted on the target but sometimes even the target might want to see who's going to acquire me even I want to conduct a due diligence on that

11:49 so that's the diligence phase then I mean I will not go into very details of it because then that's another master class for that right and there would be another stage where we would like to structure the deal some core deal structures should we buy the shares should we buy the assets so there will be a structure around it finally there will be legal document

12:20 you'll have to sign agreements because I'll have to put in papers around it I'll have to have very tightened Clauses around it so that tomorrow there is no dispute tomorrow there is no challenge between the parties and finally once the acquisition is done then you have to make sure that both the companies are integrated HR policies where is it what are the common places

12:52 that the company is going to you know operate licenses approvals are all handy so this is basically a deal life cycle so depending on what your aptitude is where your interest lies you'll have to pick up one aspect of the deal as your career option it could be either deal making which is Corporate Finance it could be valuation wherein you get to

13:22 Value the asset it could be the diligence now diligence also has multiple teams there will be a financial religious team tax diligence legal diligence forensic diligence human resource it diligence Integrity religion so like that there will be a team who will be taking care of the structure there will be a team who will be taking care of the documentation the agreements Etc and finally all of these teams and the

13:53 compliance team will take care of you know whether necessary returns have been filed necessary forms have been filed necessary approvals have been taken so this is basically you know the the conjoined the coming together of so many teams make one m a so it is not that you want to be part of an m a from next time you need to be clear which part of an Avenue you want to be a part right right right great great great so

14:22 many questions are coming up in the chat number one being chai a field is only for Chartered Accountants or other professionals can also enter the field of m a so by now you would have understood it is not just a chartered accountant job a chartered accountant alone cannot do early making we would need mbas we would need lawyers we would need people who know who are experts in Information Technology we would need people who are

14:53 great in doing you know the HR the human resource part of it so it's various streams of MBA and finance and law who come together to make a deal happen right right right right so YouTube and Linkedin all people have started putting queries in the chat one more question is coming up how can a CA enter into the field of M A the most questions

15:31 or maybe future may Investment Banking but how to enter into the field of M A what should be the right path over to you foreign

16:03 have an amazing academic and professional credentials Etc then there are these companies consulting firms Boutique Consulting was very eager to get you and now you know how to get into these companies it could be either HR Road it would be through an existing employee connect through some influence these are the most important routes but in case if you have none of this if you're not getting to know about an opportunity if you're not getting to

16:35 have an employee who can refer you Etc that always start small and how do you start small get into a smaller setup of a consulting firm or an m a firm where it is very much easy for you to get into where you do not get to see the entire m a life cycle but you certainly get to see part of it now that experience places you very differently than many other candidates and when we are

17:03 shortlisting a profile we definitely give details to a person who's done little bit of foreign like there are many answers to it because there are many profiles that we are talking about like you are wanting to get into an FDD a financial due religion they also very keen to look into people who has gotten irrelevant accounting and audit experience when you're looking for legal due diligence then we are also okay with people who's

17:34 done internship with legal firms so our event of mine decide see companies which are within your reach not out of your reach how you have to go there find out connects is through Linkedin connect through people who's been there and I mean it's not a very difficult Journey if you wanted you get it right right right right right some people are asking I am into auditing and want to fetch my profile to m a i think

18:03 this has been covered by an Imam that yes you can definitely switch from auditing to m a would CA plus CFA would be relevant and would it act as a leverage for getting into an Mna profile yes certainly it's a it's a lethal combination because then these people are very good with Aid accounting tax part of it and also the ratios the formulas and all of that so this is one of the most preferred combination I would say the combination

18:33 of CA and a lawyer CA and an MBA CA and SS CSA and MBA in itself all of these are very very relevant qualifications for the rlb right right so guys if you do any other degree along with CA that is going to add a value and definitely it will increase your chances to get into the field of MNA right now coming on to the question Guys YouTube and Linkedin you can also post your queries related to the field of m a

19:04 a core common questions in the profile of m a amazing because this is one profile which earns a lot of money like you know it's not like the routine compliance or routine audit job Etc so the engagements are prized

19:35 you know it's there are a lot of premium for the consulting firm so if we pay packages or bonuses or growth that's always on a steep curve you grow very rapidly if you are dedicated if you're giving your hard work there is no fixed term promotions you can have consistent accelerated promotions on Fast Track basis so that part is very well taken care of and then being into this

20:06 profile for a couple of years you become Irrelevant for many other related profiles with many other you know big consulting firms Etc so that is also a parallel opportunity that gets open for you with respect to work life balance I I would like to keep more on that that's not a very positive side of it but I would say that you have to be very dedicated this is kind of a profile where there is no

20:38 season there is not seasonal there is no November return filing there is no July return filing there is no March for ordered so there can be an m a in any part of the year you may need to cancel your vocations you need to cancel your needs you need to be available so typically I would say it's it's a profile which demands this is not a compliance job basically if there's a project there's a deal then

21:10 definitely they would links are so so much higher right if I'm talking about a two billion dollar deal I mean it'll cause so much of loss to the Indian economy right

21:49 and the people who are asking for a guidance session let me tell you if they're on the gurukul platform you can book a one-to-one session with her provided she have time and available slots both limited slots right hanji a corporation rmm what are the particular skills which are required for the profile of Mna sconce practical

22:20 skills so that our chances increase for the profile of m a so as I said that since there are so many diverse profile again the skills also get very diverse but if I have to give you a common answer for all of the questions a you need to be you need to be you need to have common sense you need to be aware of what's happening around you need to be updated of the news since that's happening newspapers

22:54 take it from me you're there because what we do in m a is what you hear and read every day nothing very fancy about it so being updated being knowing what's happening around you that's very important very very important because M A is just about placing two right set of candidates together and there is no formula you need to understand which company does what which Target is looking for what which client is looking for what so the more you are aware of

23:24 the industry scenario economic scenario business scenario the better you will be at your work secondly you need to be very good with numbers so Excel analysis ratios reading and interpreting and financial statement is is very important very very important because that's that's where the core of the work lies so we get very acquainted with the whole financial statements disclosure the disclosures that are made

23:55 on the website of the company pick up some big companies that you know you're probably aspire to be part of Etc go through their website get to see their businesses products segments how they are reporting in their financial statements what are their disclosures for BSC and SC and all of that so an overall awareness then being aware of the laws and regulations because M A is something which is very very tightly regulated right from the

24:27 income tax to companies that to exchange control with respect to cross-border deals to competition commission laws to getting you know any RBI approval from Reserve Bank of India so you need to be aware of what's the legal framework around like just a real estate trading is prohibited for foreigners so you need to know that this deal can't happen you need to know that there are certain sectors

24:59 which is tightly regulated like for defense like for Telecom so being an overall having an overall awareness of the laws and laws and Regulation and general legal regulatory framework is very important very crucial to understand about industry see what how many players are there competition here what are some of the big name startups what are the new Evolution that's happening and this all of this information have

25:31 that told you it has no premium price attached to it all of this is very much publicly available so if you want to test your aptitude and you want to build a career there start reading about it right right guys so some people are saying can we ask a few questions okay we'll unmute you once you can ask your question let me see where you are

26:02 and then we'll unmute you and you can ask a question till then hello sir am I audible yes if you're audible please go ahead oh hello neighbor company

26:38 and foreign

27:12 I mean this is a one very I would say trivial part of an M A and this typically happens when we are talking about an internal reorganization right for two third parties like M A in true sense is an acquisition of a company right what you're talking about is basically internal restructuring reorganization so yes that's true there are not just this there are many other efficient strategies that we say in

27:44 terms of moving cash up or moving losses to another company use profitable or probably streamlining the legal structure so as I said this this is not the objective of an m a m a is a very wide spectrum which is done for wider objective and broader objective this could be one of the incidental benefit habits one very minute trivial incidental benefits thank you

28:24 hanji Deepa gaurav will come to you in just a second the people who are asking from where we can connect with Neha mam so you need to go on thinking which wrote in you happy life you can connect with her and take the guidance for the field of m a right will come to you you can unmute yourself and ask a

28:55 question hi good evening ma'am good evening sir so my question is ma'am like in his articles or after completing articles

29:29 acquisition perform the beginning so what is your view about this I think there are two aspects of it a if you are certain that you you're very interested for an m a profile Etc then go for it from the article chip yeah but even if you start your articles

30:02 from a different profile skills that you know helps you explore life and environment and opportunities around all these but it is just that if you are getting an opportunity with Eminem you eventually want to make your career there then do not leave an opportunity with party for articles because any are much more relevant and preferred for a job there than anybody else who's not done an articles okay so even if we will do the our if

30:35 we will do our attention any other domain then it will then it will also be feasible for us to do a little lesser compared to a candidate who's done article chip in m a obviously that person might get preference over you but yes that you will not be shortlisted for evidence okay and one more question just what the thing which motivates you to do the do the do in merchant and request field

31:08 like what what motivates you to choose that failure what is what inspire you or to becoming a state in the marginal acquisition so two things a verb as I mentioned there is there has never been a day that I have not learned anything I have not become knowledgeable by end of the deal so that always keeps me keeps my spirits high so even if I had a rough day I had gotten to sleep only for a few hours

31:37 that keeps me energized and active for my work secondly when I see those stalwarts those leaders there in my farm who's reached a certain pedestal and you know I am wanting to follow them some of these people are your mentors your partners Etc so merely I mean I mean that's that's a that's the basically charm of having and a mentor or a leader who's who you're

32:09 following so the very objective I mean that very Spirit helps you in getting up every day and participating in the race

32:40 I hope your question has been answered yeah thank you sir thank you thank you right a call common questions what are the global opportunities for the profile of M A so this is coming from people who are moved into the profile of Taxation for the profile of M A are there global opportunities as well

33:11 suddenly certainly there is so there are two types of opportunities that you typically encounter you get across one would be you know so all of these Consulting organization have gotten in India mnd is right so because they get so many India deals in their boundaries they need a local person over there who's aware of how India was how Indian regulations work so typically there are opportunities there secondly we've also seen many many of our colleagues

33:42 moving globally and therein they have not been advising on India regulations solely that they have upskilled themselves and being acquainted with the laws the m a policies framework over there which is not very different because India has also evolved out of those regulations those practices which is about differently okay by upskilling while a little bit of investment you get to be like them so both the both opportunities flow your way but

34:13 be part of Indian jobs story here exactly exactly requests practically how work you've done in the big four in the profile of M A to give you that practical knowledge and increase your chances for the profile of Mna definitely

34:44 though it will not be a master class it has to be a master class course running into the days and weeks but I would love to do that right right guys gaurav you can ask your question hi ma'am hello sir I qualified CA in May 22 attempt and yeah just after qualification I started with PWC SDC in the FTD profile now I want to switch to

35:15 the India practice as in the back end you have to do the monotonous work and all the data crunching itself and so it is rare at our level to be involved in in two end-to-end deal so

35:51 yeah sure sure we'll do that thank you right gaurav no you can definitely connect you told that you know it's a very lucrative field in terms of salary and perks and the other benefits and bonuses but if you could just give us a you know the starting salary range and the earning potential like couple of years later when you're like at the

36:21 peak so I think that would really give people an idea the about the the the potential of this field so that's like revealing too many details and I don't think that's the correct platform but I well I can say that yeah keeping the Dignity of the job in the profession it it is certainly very lucrative where it's coming from me let's not assign numbers to it maybe we can discuss it offline yeah right but I can assure you guys one thing that it is

36:53 definitely more than the traditional fields of audit and tax much much better much more than that today hanji guys coming on to Janam Shah Janam you can ask your question quickly good evening sir good evening ma'am ma'am I want to ask that you are into the field in mnday from a very long time so can you share any of your experience or any of your project you have been worked in or something that you pull out

37:24 and that motivates you and boosts you to work more in mnd field I think that is not the right energy that I get to keep myself motivated motivated is basically a I have I truly get very diverse set of work every single day so I you know every day I feel very much redundant that I need to upskill myself

37:56 because what I learned yesterday is not useful anymore I need to think of more strategic strategies more ideas to innovate and to adopt best practices to advise my clients so that newness every day is key secondly you have so much of positive energy around you you get to work with such a learner team both you know your peers people who work with you people who you work with

38:29 so I would say a very power pack efficient energized team who's a very competitive and secondly also there to support each other so these things I think make a better workplace and make the job and work out very good right right guys the people who are asking I would answer in one word this is not a monotonous profile like other one this is the most dynamic profile

39:00 different difference so this is going to a very Dynamic profiles right and people who are looking to make a career in the field of Finance Mna is the place to start with right hanji so coming on

39:31 in just a few minutes are preferred over fear before this guy is

40:06 I'm a CA so there is there are some skills which only a certain profile of MBA can offer let's respect that but then there are certain job profiles where both MBS and CS are eligible and there is no preference given to one over the other is clearly the candidate you know sometimes the degree doesn't make you there's some innate abilities your confidence your problem solve solving abilities which make you fit for it for a job opportunities and not just

40:37 qualification exactly exactly guys right coming to you and erode then we'll close the session in the next 10 minutes quickly you can answer your question you can post your questions in the chat also and you can raise your hand I want to ask her how can I see a

41:08 pressure join in the Mna article shapes in the audit field demand supplier if you find an opportunity of which in position go apply for it foreign

41:48 through an internal connect Etc then nothing like it otherwise there are many job opportunities that we put there on LinkedIn every single day and we do a lot of screening of the CVS which we receive on LinkedIn every day so that is a very good platform I would say it does but I mean obviously there is a certain preference Etc is given to

42:19 people whose academically and professionally professionally politician was very strong but then attempt still we do not you know disregard that so much but beyond a certain number of attempts and it is thank you exactly guys attempts and all yes they are going to matter screening process but after that if you get a get an interview opportunity then the skills

42:50 which ma'am have told you statements all these skills are very relevant for the profile and you should be aware about the deals which are happening in the market news quickly go ahead and ask a question

43:22 until I have unmuted you I think there's some audio issue at your end we'll come to rishabhav then rishabh you can go ahead and ask a question ma'am now I have recently cleared my CEO intermediate and I am going to start with article ship as we can get to know about the vacancies of stat to start audit and Taxation on a very regular basis the article should the opportunities for

43:52 mnday and Investment Banking cannot be seen very much very much ma'am how can we get to know about it its vacancies and even if we get to know about it vacancies how can we prepare for its an interview like what type of question like I have like I have gone through some of the vacancies in I'm in a department but I was not sure like what

44:22 type of interview would happen that's why I haven't applied for it right how to do the interview preparation basically yeah that I mean basically I'm I think it requires a dedicated discussion because there is no General answer to it like I need to understand which part of it sector I am looking for maybe we can speak one to one for this that'll be the best way to discuss this exactly right right

44:55 so let's take the last question last two question we'll take we have already talked to Deepak and then we'll close the session hello sir hello ma'am so I would like to ask how can I prepare for this interview like we can talk about it on one to one basis

45:25 I also wanted to know that how can I I identify whether I should assume this deal making option or evaluation which feels today all right correct I think Adil again this would require a detailed discussion because there are many stages of a deal as nehama mentioned their their valuation then they have due diligence so the basic question of are they live how to choose between these three or

45:56 four options which are there in a deal cycle how to decide between whether we should go for valuation or for FDD or for any other so then again I would say that you know I'm not just wanting to skip the question but this requires a little detailed discussion and the simple answer to it would be what is it that you are good at what do you think where your skills and aptitude and your interest lies and you know what is it that you

46:25 understand better because or do you think that you would be somebody who's very good in Deal making you understand that part well or if you think that you would be good with analysis ratios and financial statement interpretation so depending on what your supporting qualification supporting experience has been you basically choose your career

46:55 all right thank you Adil thank you so we'll take the last question of darsh Dash you can ask your question and mute and please go ahead foreign

47:54 where it might be more relevant but not for the India job sites right right I am in m a tax of big Force but now I want to change the field which field would be the best to go into the world is very big my friend may need to discuss this do you want to do right right

48:26 right guys so I guess key we have taken all the questions and you have got a fair idea of what is the field of m a question what are the different aspects of the Mna field and definitely you can connect for a one-to-one session with Neha mam where are my my skills and all skills and all questions if all these questions coming in the chat of YouTube LinkedIn all these have been answered

48:57 equal right yes great yeah right right so right guys we have covered everything yes YouTube

49:30 thank you so much for sparing your time and guiding all the Learners out here for the field of Finance M A and the deal cycle yeah they have got a fair idea now okay Coach questions and she'll take your questions one by one sorry so I'm sure I have not been able to do justice to everybody but that's that's how the profile is about and

50:02 pardon me for that but I'm happy to connect with you on LinkedIn or on a one-to-one session or you can send me an email wherever I'll drop my email ID and let's take this forward and my object is to help you guys as much as I can so let's find a suitable time and take this forward thank you thank you everyone and thanks for this opportunity thank you Mom thanks a lot for connecting and guiding the students

50:30 thank you thanks a lot guys for joining in we'll see you in the next session