No name Boutique to Corp Dev to MBA to PE

Hi everyone, trying to consider a few options and wanted to know if anyone had heard of this route or had some general feedback. I graduated from a non-target with a degree in finance (3.9 GPA). I have been working at a “no-name boutique” for about 2 years. One year as an intern throughout school and summer and one year as a FT analyst. I am starting to think about next steps and got solicited a Senior M&A Analyst role at a F100. I know I definitely wanna go to B-School (still trying to narrow down the list) and then jump into PE. Planning on moving to Boca Raton post MBA and saw Associates at these funds mostly had MM IBD backgrounds. Any thoughts on the route I proposed up top (IB, CD, B-School, PE)? Obviously the no-name and Corp dev being the main concern. Any suggestions besides Corp-Dev? PE and IB where I live is extremely limited. Also, are large funds like Sun Capital realistic? I know there’s an exception for everything but what’s the general thought?

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Appreciate the insight RecvrngBnkr. At the boutique we focus on sell-side and buy-side M&A in a niche industry, so my job has been extremely focused on building DCF/Teaser/CIM. I feel the Corp Dev position will at least give me more insight into transaction rationality and more experience building LBO's (company finances their acquisitions, low cash on the BS) that will help me on the buy-side. The Corp Dev is at a large traveling/vacation company (Airlines, Cruise-lines etc), so not sure what funds cater to that background.

 

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