behaviourals for HL

Question 1

what makes u suited for IB

Answer 1

1. skills interest and personality align with IB
2. often times very dynamic fast paced, pressure
3. I think im someone who thrives really well under pressure and tught deadline, and its where I will grow the most
4. i think adaptability and resilience
5. skills: very interested in the analytical component as well as the research component: searching for strategic buyes, the negotiations

Question 2

Why HL

Answer 2

1. went to spring week and that really made u interested in terms of culture + the deals
2. culture: non-hierarchal, small teams -> good exposure, lots of team bonding activity: ski trips, really value client relationship, independent/non-biased, community,
3. deal: most amount of deals, mid market, good exposure early on, Top Global M&A Firm1, Investment Banks by Number of Global
   M&A Deals in CY 2023
4. specialists but good at every sector, im more interested in healthcare sector, did consumer for spring week and that was also very interesting (more strategics)
5. lots of cross border transactions
6. very strong growth company, even during COVID when the markets werent great, HL was still able to make most amount of deals

Question 3

Why IB, why M&A

Answer 3

1. Biotech story
2. how M&A plays a crucial role in these companies to link between the worlds
3. after doing spring weeks i really realised that I enjoy the environment of investment bank, working in a team and discussing and negotiating, doing analu\ytical and research side but also having the interpersonal side
4. dynamic and fast paced environment
5. corporate finance is the biggest segment at HL

Question 4

HL vs other banks

Answer 4

1. independent
2. mid market for more growth opportunities
3. small team sizes, and good exposure to clients
4. independent

Question 5

M&A vs other products?

Question 6

market news

Answer 6

1. trumps election effects on europe
2. renewable energies sector: trump doesnt rlly believe in climate change and renewable energy, we saw in 2019 that he didnt cap clean energy emissions
3. he might turn to favor more traditional energy companies and less on renewable energy.
4. I think this is a bad news for EV and renewable energy
5. EV because its a lot of EV are imported from europe or china, and this might lead to european EV not performing well
6. hence more distressed M&A markets, look for more funding?

Question 7

recent M&A deal

Answer 7

1. mars acquiring tru fru, HL sell side advisor
2. trufru is a US snacks company and they focus on healthy snacking using frozen berries and chocolate or fruits and sweets. have grown 5 times since they started
3. mars is a well known international brand for chocolate and sweets, snickers, mars bar,
4. acquisition rationale: to align with the health and wellness strategy for mars, looking to make sweets which are healthy, it fits it with current product offerings that mars has, become more healthy as markets emphasize more on health these days
5. synergies: cost synergies: shared distribution channel, shared operations. revenue: more revenue brought it from making trufru more international, diversification of product offerings

Question 8

why biology at first?

Question 9

caledonia questions, what did u do, what did u learn?

Answer 9

1. i shadowed across their 3 divisions, and also did a final protfolio presentation
2. in quoted equity: identifying specific stocks with potential, looking at which stocks are worth investing in
3. in private equity: no live deals, but site visits to their portfolio company
4. in private funds: following up funds, whether or not to re-up? new geogrophy bcuz china wasnt doing so well?

Question 10

time abt analyzing and or presenting complicated information

Answer 10

1. biotech presentation
2. complicated infomration where we failed first and didnt win the pitch, because we wanted to say too much and wasnt clear with what we were saying
3. went away and focused on making animations and diagrams to simply illustrate the process instead of talking about statistics and detailed research
4. secured us initial funding and lab space

Question 11

favorite activity

Question 12

your weaknesses and strengths

Answer 12

1. indecisive,

Question 13

role of analyst for M&A

Answer 13

1. pitch book, client or management presentations, marketing material, valuations, due dilligence, client calls

Question 14

M&A process

Answer 14

1. pitch the company (pitch book), win mandate
2. prepare marketing material and send out teaser to potential buyers
3. first round banker call with potential buyers and screen them
4. sign NDA with potential buyer
5. duedilligence and valuation, IM , marketing material
6. 1v1 convo, deal structure and negotiation
7. deal closed