Mergers and Acquisitions
This interdisciplinary program gives executives the analytical frameworks and tools necessary to successfully execute mergers, acquisitions, and corporate restructuring.
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The forces of globalization and technological change have created a highly competitive and dynamic business world where mergers and acquisitions are increasingly used to seek competitive advantage and maximize value for shareholders.
Engaging in M&A activity is not a low-risk endeavor, so it is imperative that executives know how to navigate this landscape. At Chicago Booth, you will learn not only from M&A successes but also from M&A failures to better evaluate risk and put frameworks and tools to practice in a risk-free environment.
During this program, you will:
- Develop a strategic plan for M&A activity.
- Analyze strategic alternatives to M&A.
- Understand the M&A due diligence process and develop your due diligence skills.
- Understand business valuation techniques.
- Implement a strategy for integration and restructuring.
- Structure the deal to minimize tax consequences.
- Learn how to best protect shareholder value during M&A.
- Understand the use of M&A by large public corporations, privately held middle-market firms, and private equity firms.
- Learn a playbook of M&A best practices.
Location
Chicago Booth, Gleacher Center, Chicago, IL
This program is designed for senior and upper-middle level executives who are now or will be involved in M&A activity. CFOs, CEOs, and general counsel considering or currently involved in M&A activity will find this program immensely valuable.
Titles include: C-suite, general manager, vice president, director of business development, director of finance, strategic planner, business unit manager, general counsel, and analyst.
Merle Erickson
In addition to numerous articles published in a variety of top academic journals, Erickson is a coauthor of the widely used Taxes and Business Strategy textbook (currently in its 6th edition) and is the author/editor of the casebook, Cases in Tax Strategy. From 2005-2011, he served as a co-editor of the Journal of Accounting Research.
Over the course of his career, Erickson has consulted on complex GAAP and tax accounting issues (e.g., debt versus equity, various ASC 740 related issues, intercompany accounting and consolidation, employee stock option accounting, accounting for mergers, acquisitions and divestitures (e.g., spin-offs, leveraged partnerships, reverse Morris Trust transactions), and restated financial statements) in a variety of contexts (e.g., bankruptcy, mergers, acquisitions, divestitures, inversions, structured finance, investment planning, cross border and intercompany financing, partnership and LLC arrangements, private equity transactions, tax receivable agreements, tax sharing agreements, shareholder disputes, and various types of tax advantaged transactions). His clients have included, among others, the U.S. Department of Justice, the Internal Revenue Service, Fortune 500 companies in various industries, international financial institutions, law firms, accounting firms, and individual taxpayers. He has also assisted corporations with SEC, IRS and whistleblower investigations. Erickson brings these real world experiences to his “Taxes Business Strategy” and executive education courses at Booth.
Prior to entering academia, he assisted the U.S. Government in its prosecution of the Lincoln Saving & Loan case. He subsequently published an academic article and teaching case relating to the audit failure associated with the Lincoln Saving & Loan case. That teaching case has been used by the Big 4 to train junior auditors.
He has been given several awards from the American Taxation Association for his research and teaching. He has received the Outstanding Manuscript Award (twice) as well as an award for teaching innovation. In addition to teaching graduate students at Chicago Booth, Erickson has taught courses to Morgan Stanley, Merrill Lynch, General Electric Capital Corporation, Baker McKenzie, Andersen Consulting, Accenture, CareerBuilder, and the IMCA (Investment Management Consultants Association) among others. He also was been named one of BusinessWeek's Outstanding Faculty at the University of Chicago. He is the faculty director of the Booth Mergers and Acquisitions course for Executives, and is the also the faculty director of the Booth Certified Private Wealth Advisor (CPWA) program.
Erickson earned a bachelor's degree in accounting from Rockhurst College in 1987, an MBA in 1989 from Arizona State University, and a PhD in accounting from the University of Arizona in 1996. He joined the Chicago Booth faculty in 1996.
In addition to his scholarly activities, Erickson is an avid fisherman. His angling pursuits have taken him from the pristine wilderness lakes of northern Canada to some of the remotest stretches of the Great Barrier Reef. He received the Angler Award from the Billfish Foundation in 2003 for catching and releasing the most striped marlin worldwide that year.
Laura Born
She currently serves as a member of the Board of Directors of Carlson Inc. (hospitality portfolio company that owned TGIFridays, Radisson Hotels and Carlson Worldwide Travel and now operates a private equity platform), and she is also the Chair of the Audit Committee. Since 2023, Born has been a member of the Board of Directors of ezCater.com, a technology company that enables corporate catering services. From 2020 to 2021, she was a member of the Carlson Travel Inc. board and worked to complete two financial restructurings of the company. From 2007 to 2021, Laura served as a member of the board of the Trustees for the Columbia Acorn Trust and the Wanger Advisors Trust (small and mid-capitalization equity mutual funds), ten years of which she was elected as Chair of the Board. From 2018 to 2020, she served on the Driehaus Capital Managment LLC Advisory Board (small/mid cap equity asset management firm).
More recently, Born provided humanitarian assistance in Poland to support Ukrainian refugees via Paracrew.org and the All Hands and Hearts organizations. Closer to home, Born was a long time board member of the Infant Welfare Society of Evanston (a not-for profit serving low income children and their families in the area) for 15 years. She has been involved in public education initiatives in her public school district, having served as: a Co-Chair of the 21st Century Learning Sub-Committee, a member of the Central School Improvement Plan Committee and a delegate to the New Trier High School Board of Education Caucus.
Born earned a bachelor's degree in economics and political science from Duke University in 1987. She received an MBA in finance and accounting with Honors from Chicago Booth in 1991.
She enjoys Italy, Austin, the mountains, music, traveling, art history, yoga, hiking, and downhill skiing.
Gregory Bunch
He works with Fortune 50 companies, family businesses and start-ups in the areas of innovation and strategy. He has worked with a broad array of companies including Abbott Labs, American Express, Danaher, Dover, ETS, Harley-Davidson, Hewlett-Packard, Kimberly-Clark, McDonalds, PepsiCo, State Farm and Yum! Brands.
Greg was an alderman in the City of West Chicago, serving on the infrastructure, public safety and development committees.
Greg has lectured nationally and internationally on topics related to strategy, creating customers, and innovation. He earned a bachelor's degree from Wheaton College in philosophy and an MDiv from Harvard University.
Stephen Morrissette
His expertise includes: Strategic Planning, M&A, and Capital Planning. He works with publicly-held firms, privately-owned firms with a special emphasis on planning for large family-owned businesses.
Recent consulting projects include developing a strategic plan including M&A Plan ($700 mil firm in SE USA), developing ownership exit strategies/succession plans for 4 family/founder held business ranging in size from $10 to $50 million in EBITDA, strategic plan for an $75 million international internet based business, and an international strategic plan ($2 bil firm based in Saudi Arabia).
Formerly he was the founding CEO of First Community Financial Partners, a 4 bank holding company which grew to $1.2 billion in assets in 10 years which he took public and later sold. At First Community, he led 5 stock offerings raising over $100 million in equity.
He has made 11 angel investments, 4 search fund investments and has advised numerous start-up firms including mentoring Booth New Venture Challenge teams.
He serves on several corporate and non-profit boards.
His academic credentials include an MBA with honors in Finance and Strategy from the University of Chicago and a PhD in Entrepreneurial Finance from Union University. In addition to Booth, he is a Professor at the University of St. Francis in Joliet, IL and has guest lectured at the Northwestern Kellogg School of Management. His current research includes decision models for mergers and acquisitions including "A Framework for Validating and MA Deal Thesis" published in the Journal of Accountancy and Finance. He also recently published "An Investor's Guide to Search Funds" in the Journal of Private Equity; the article was co-authored with a Booth student.
Pre-Work to lay the foundation (Online)
To ensure you are ready to tackle the program’s financial concepts and make the most of your time in the classroom, we offer access to optional online course material via a proprietary platform. Led by professor Haresh Sapra, this self-paced tool helps participants build their financial acumen and refresh important concepts prior to the program. Each module features faculty video lectures, exercises, cases, and self tests, allowing participants to tailor their learning and focus their time on modules and topics most important to them.
Strategy Formulation
- Create competitive advantage through acquisition, merger, divestiture, or alliance
- Determine attractiveness and fit of a candidate
- Analyze the alternatives to M&A such as strategic alliances or joint ventures
Investment Decisions and Financing
- Understand valuation methods in evaluating M&A prospects
- Consider capital structure and financing choices and understand/compute pro forma metrics
- Review an LBO transaction and financing structure
- Understand market reaction to transactions
Tax Implications
- Understand tax implications of various tax structures for both the buyer and seller
- Structure transactions to maximize the seller's after-tax wealth and to minimize the buyer’s after-tax cost
- Become familiar with various valuation implications of tax planning for mergers, acquisitions and divestitures
M&A Strategy and Target Identification, Deal Phase, and Due Diligence
- Develop an end-to-end process view of corporate development and M&A
- Obtain tools to identify and prioritize acquisition targets
- Test and validate a potential deal thesis
- Learn due diligence activities necessary to test an investment thesis
- Develop synergy estimates
- Identify key risk issues to be investigated in due diligence
- Develop a due diligence plan
Postdeal Integration
- Develop a strategy for successful integration
- Manage post-merger integration with focus on shareholder value
- Understand the decisions and processes that impact the new organization's strategy, structure, and culture
I entered this program having been involved in deals where success seemed to happen by chance. Booth M&A provided me with the strategies and tools to replicate success in my important work.
- Patrick Jones, SVP of Leadership & Equity, The Mind Trust
The program's structure covers strategy, tax, valuation, and process, with real-life experience from professors. It provides comprehensive frameworks for the deal process and integration strategy.
- Manuel Sanchez, Strategic Planning Manager, FEMSA
Invest in your future by spending a full week with like-minded students from around the globe, learning how to do deals right!
Attending the M&A program has truly been an exceptional learning journey for me. The faculty comprises top-tier professors who bring rich industry experience to the table. The lectures are packed with valuable insights that even after completing the course, I'll have ample training and resources to continue my learning journey for months to come.
- Guzman Ordoyo Garcia, Senior Project Manager, Acciona Energy USA Global LLC
The M&A program provides a foundation for executives who are new to M&A and a refresher for those with experience. Being able to engage on the theoretical and strategic nature all the way through to the practical execution and integration was extremely helpful.
- Troy Shay, President & Chief Commercial Officer, Weber Stephen Products LLC
I like the course very much because it is well organized: great structure and content, excellent faculties who have great real-world experiences and are good at teaching, and Chicago Booth staff are supportive and helpful every day. I not only learned about the fundamentals in the quantitative parts but also pragmatic strategic framework that I can bring back to my work everyday.
- Haipeng Chen, Sr. Director, Corporate Development and Business Knowledge, Chiesi USA, Inc.
This is a great program for anyone working with M&A. Very well-rounded course materials and lectures. Very practical concepts and tools that can be put to use in my daily work. Great balance of classroom time and small group break-away time to help practice the concepts.
- Mike Huray, CFO, Lutheran Social Services of Minnesota
Well designed program packed with quality content and delivered efficiently. Inspiring faculty.”
- Suresh Vaidhyanathan, Group Chief Financial Officer, GA Group
The learning and networking experienced during the M&A Program at Chicago Booth has been invaluable for my career. The Chicago Booth program provides a broad range of cases and tools that I have been using on a daily basis.
- Gabriel Gosalvez T, Senior Manager, Deloitte LLP
The tenor and pace of the class, the very relevant and up-to-date materials, and most importantly the very diverse global make-up of the participants and teachers made my entire experience at Booth an exceptional week. I have recommended multiple courses to my colleagues and associates and plan to attend more courses relevant to my job in the future. I have stayed in contact with several of my classmates and intend to continue to do so in the future.
- Tom Heiser, Vice President & General Manager, Hitachi High Technologies America, Systems Products Division & New Business Development
The Chicago Booth M&A program was excellent and provided many insights which I now apply in my day-to-day work. The faculty was highly rich in industry experience and used case studies to elaborate principles. I believe this M&A program is one of the most practical and professional available for senior leaders to improve their competencies around M&A. I do not hesitate to recommend this program to any participant who wants to improve his/her knowledge of M&A.
- Sanjeewa Samaranayake, CFO, Group Finance, Hemas Holdings Plc
The Chicago Booth M&A program is ideal for practitioners involved in any facet of a transaction. I benefited from the quantitative evaluation of a deal, its tax implications, and approaches to ensuring a successful integration.
- Girish Rishi, Executive Vice President, Tyco
The program invigorated me. Quality of the professors was fantastic with real world experience that I valued. I really feel the content will help me tremendously in my day-to-day.
- David Bethoney, Senior Finance Director, Experian
The class afforded me the opportunity to see how the financial team views M&A as well as get more comfortable with their terminology. I appreciate the tools I’ve received to focus and hone my financial and business teams in our M&A activities.
- Adelle Mize, VP, Associate General Counsel, Freeman
It's been my experience that most of us involved in deal making tend toward the bias that purchase price and precise valuation outweigh all other components of the deal. This class has changed my thinking to be more balanced and given me tools to prove that strategy and integration are equally or more important than valuation in creating value.
- Tyler Jones, Business Development Manager, Performance Technologies, LLC
Great use of strategy and self-reflection, which drive M&A decisions, coupled with which tools can advantage you once you have made the decision to proceed.
- Chris Chrisafides, Sr. Commercial Director, The Dow Chemical Company
I was hesitant to return to academia, even for a week, but I found the course to be interesting, relevant, and highly collaborative. I would recommend it to colleagues.
- Valerie Matena, Senior Analyst, M&A, The Babcock & Wilcox Company
Such a great program that covers the essentials of strategy, valuation, tax, and integration. An absolute must for successful M&A execution.
- Rob Vassel, Director of Business Development, The Clorox Company
The course 110% met my expectations. It was very well done with the big picture always in mind. It was well worth the financial and time investment.
- Christopher Alsip, Director of Strategic Planning, Tyson Foods, Inc.
Overall I am extremely satisfied and enthusiastic about the experience. The quality of the faculty (and overall program management) is extremely high. I hope to be back soon for other programs. This course gave me a consolidated view of the M&A process and put all the pieces of the puzzle together in a very practical and pragmatic way. This week exceeded my expectations. Thank you.
- Denis Jaquenoud, Vice President of Operations, Richemont North America
Advance Registration Benefit
When you commit your attendance by the specific expiration dates in 2025, you’ll benefit through financial savings. The savings will be automatically applied during the registration process. For more information, review our Advance Registration Benefits FAQs.
- March 31-April 4: $11,250 if registered by January 7.
- July 14-18: $11,250 if registered by April 21.
- October 13-17: $11,250 if registered by July 21.
Upcoming Courses
| Date | Fee | |
|---|---|---|
| March 31-April 4, 2025 | $12,500 | Register Now |
| July 14-18, 2025 | $12,500 | Register Now |
| October 13-17, 2025 | $12,500 | Register Now |
This program typically runs three times a year, every March, July or August, and October or November.
Earn Credit Toward the Global Advanced Finance Program
This program qualifies as an elective in the Global Advanced Finance Program, an exclusive program that awards Chicago Booth alumni status after completing six finance and strategy elective sessions over two years.