Blackstone, HLHZ, Lazard Restructuring Interview

Restructuring = a product within banking. Know basic corpfin and accounting, why and when to use comps, ins and outs of valuing a company. All 3 are obviously very technical. I would be prepared to answer why you want to do restructuring (other than the typical "Because I think its going to be hot over the next couple of years"), why would a company file for bankruptcy, different tranches of debt and what each tranche typically expects in a bankruptcy, etc.

i was also asked some questions regarding restructuring charges on the income statement. I'd also suggest knowing the difference between chapter 11 and Chapter 7, as well as the order of claims on the company's assets - pretty basic stuff... in the end, it will be a matter of fit more than technical knowledge, assuming that you know the basic things for a finance interview.

on a side note... do you have an interview with all three? That's pretty sick. How come it's so late in the process?

Congrats on the interviews. I would imagine for summer positions, it would be less technical, but in all honesty, every restructuring interview I have ever had has been significantly technical. They usually go beyond the Vault questions.

I would suggest understanding a few important credit metrics and why they are important. You should be able to walk them through a DCF & LBO in simple terms. Understand how the 3 Financial Statements connect and understand why things flow the way they do.

Best of Luck dude.

http://www.hlhz.com/library/bsttcacs.pdf

you might have seen this already and this may seem basic depending on your background but I thought it provides a good overview.

fyi: I'm just a student so take my advice with a grain of salt.

asks the negative equity question....i.e. how can a company have negative equity. When I went up with 3 sa candidates from my school last year, each one got it. And each got it wrong=no offers

What's the answer to the negative equity question?

Negative equity happens when lets say Blackstone acquires a company for x dollars. The value of the assets at that point happens to be x+5 dollars. However over a period of time when the value of assets reaches x-5$ and the outstanding balance on the loan is x-2$, then Blackstone has negative equity in that firm. Correct me if I'm wrong but this is what I learned in class.