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NYU Takes Top Prize in Third
Annual University of Maryland
M&A Competition
College Park, Md. – October 26, 2009 – The University of
Maryland’s Robert H. Smith School of Business today announced the winners of its
third annual Mergers & Acquisitions Competition,
held October 22-23. The event, organized by Smith’s MBA Finance Association,
challenged 10 teams of MBA students from leading business schools to craft and
present M&A pitches to a panel of executive and faculty judges. The student team
from the Leonard N. Stern School of Business at New York University won the
$5,000 first prize. The Darden School of Business at the University of Virginia
MBA students took the $2,500 second prize, and the Tepper School of Business at
Carnegie Mellon University students came away with the $1,000 third prize.
Marriott International Inc. sponsored the competition.
“Our goal is to help to students prepare to be leaders whose business
strategies take more than profit-making into account,” said G. “Anand”
Anandalingam, dean of the Robert H. Smith School of Business. “M&A involves so
much more than just finance. With the changing financial world and new rules and
regulations, it’s more important than ever that important business decisions
consider impact not only for shareholders, but for all other stakeholders as
well.”
Teams worked through the night to create persuasive arguments to a
hypothetical case — strategic merger and acquisition alternatives for a
satellite television company. They used real-time financial data to formulate
their recommendations, then pitched their final presentations to a team of
judges who selected four teams to advance to a final round. Teams were judged on
their qualitative arguments and the quantitative models used to support their
arguments.
In addition to a Smith School team and the winning teams, competitors
included MBA students from the Howard University School of Business, the
Krannert School of Management at Purdue University, the McDonough School of
Business at Georgetown University, the Mendoza College of Business at the
University of Notre Dame, the Simon Graduate School of Business at the
University of Rochester, and the Wisconsin School of Business at the University
of Wisconsin-Madison.
Representatives from Marriott served as judges for the competition, along
with other corporate executives, alumni and finance faculty.
“Doing competitions like this really helps the students because they get
up-to-date information and can really tailor their pitches to today’s
environment,” said Tom Hogan, vice president of corporate finance for Marriott
International and a final-round competition judge. “They are sharpening valuable
skills and abilities that will really prepare them for the working environment
post all of the financial crises that have happened.”
The competition is the MBA Finance Association’s premier fall event at the
Smith School. It also included a networking reception and opportunities for
students to meet industry professionals and recruiters.
More information about the competition is available
online.
About the University of Maryland’s Robert H.
Smith School of Business
The Robert H. Smith School of Business is an internationally recognized leader
in management education and research. One of 13 colleges and schools at the
University of Maryland, College Park, the Smith School offers undergraduate,
full-time and part-time MBA, executive MBA, executive MS, PhD and executive
education programs, as well as outreach services to the corporate community. The
school offers its degree, custom and certification programs in learning
locations in North America and Asia.
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