LBO Case Study Detail? (1.5 hours with CIM)

Just had a difficult af test with a CIM, no assumptions whatsoever, and 1.5 hours to build a full 3-statement LBO.

Was able to get everything done with BS and CF balancing, but my assumptions, esp. around leverage, were pretty simplified. Basically did 2 tranches (term loan / senior notes) with simple interest rates for each (although did L+ for term loan but assumed a constant LIBOR rate, so basically just the same). No revolver or "mandatory" amortization - just full cash sweep.

Also didn't deal with creating / amortizing DTL's....just assumed all to goodwill (company also has no existing intangibles). No depreciation schedule either.

Is this a big deal? Or would it be mainly judged on completeness / BS balancing?

UPDATE: Made it through to next round :)

 
Most Helpful

Just wanted to post congrats as I know this has been eating you up. I would say as long as your model is complete and well formatted you will be ahead of most candidates. However, you never know when that modeling whiz is competing against you. Did you get a chance to present? Usually this is almost more important.

Also for future, on the DTLs you can keep this super simple. Just % x write up and assume that it amortizes over x periods. Just make your assumptions clear and you will demonstrate you know the concept in its basic form. Usually more than good enough. They know these are quick and rough models.

 

Hey thanks dude! No chance to present. They didn't ask for any justification of assumptions, or even a recommendation for the deal at the end. Just "Build a 3-statement LBO. Use whatever assumptions you deem reasonable based on the CIM" 

Given those vague instructions, I assumed they just wanted to test if I could finish, especially since this was starting with a blank excel, so had to manually input all numbers, which was honestly pretty difficult with adrenaline-shaky fingers for 90 minutes LOL. There was also no existing intangibles on the balance sheet, so while I realize that doesn't mean intangibles won't be generated, I took that as a hint that we didn't need to do it, but idk, could be wrong.

 

US MM

Edit: I've practiced with old MF tests before, and I'd say this was way harder than most MF ones because of the time pressure. Especially having to enter all numbers manually + come up with projections based on the CIM - which takes ~45 minutes in itself, leaving 45 minutes to actually build the full 3-statement LBO (I really built it in like 30 minutes because it took 10 minutes to fix my bs not balancing mistake and ~5 minutes to format decently. 

 

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