Houlihan Lokey Corporate Finance - Technology Group

I have an upcoming interview with HL for their technology group out in San Francisco and was wondering if I should be doing any industry (i.e. tech) specific preparation or if this will be like any other first round banking interview...?

 

It wasn't bad, but not great either. Plenty of work - exceptional deal flow considering it was summer. Not very modeling intensive if that's what you're looking for (a lot of pitchbooks...). Comps were pretty much pulled from CapIQ (not scrubbed). Great people he/she said, but not returning for FT. Tech is a good place to be atm, but who knows for how much longer.

 

Congrats on the interview. This questions gets asked a lot, so searching the forums might help. Most Excel tests are valuation driven, so understanding how to do a comprehensive DCF will be the best way to prepare. Open up a new Excel workbook, make up your own assumptions, and build detailed cash flows and a DCF/IRR analysis from scratch. Set a time goal, too. They will probably test your Excel skills to see if you can use data tables and different formulas (sumifs, vlookup, ifs/ands, etc..). Check getrefm and kahrrealestate for some helpful resources.

 
Best Response

REFM (real estate financial modeling) also has some courses, but it sounds like you probably know about them already.

How does a uni have a real estate program but not have Excel case studies in their real estate finance courses? Talk about preparing students for the real world, as if they are going to be planning developments and negotiating legal documents from the outset. We need to be preparing kids to perform the tasks that comanies need them to perform.

I am really not sure about a pre existing set of cases. The author of The Real Estate Game (his name escapes me) published some old Harvard cases back in the 90s and I have noticed that you can still buy them on Amazon. I am really not sure how good they are, but those might be worth at least looking up.

 

all you have to do is sign up to be on the distribution list of some brokers such as ARA...you will generally receive offering memos. Once you get them you underwrite the property and practice on live deals, and train yourself to develop an analytical mindset regarding the properties you're valuing. Does it make sense to buy at this cap rate, am i going to be able to grow my rents 3% per year in this market, how much equity do i need (you can assume 30% on stabilized multifamily), how's the job market in this area, who are the top employers, can i fix up the property and generate a 20% IRR on the improvements, at what level did similar deals close in this area?

If you have questions, you can always ask them on this forum, there are a lot of people that can help you understand the deals you're looking at.

 

I used REFM courses for some self education on waterfall/JV structuring practice during PE recruiting. I would recommend in terms of content and template models that have increasing levels of complexity, but they can be pricey. Only problem with the one I bought is that it didn't include anything on GP catch-ups, but I think they have a module out on that now.

 

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