INTRODUCTION Long-term- reach a CXO position and devise policies and

strategies that not only evolve businesses but also promote

- I was born & brought up in Agra
inclusivity in all forms and are sustainable for the community
- I completed a bachelor’s degree in Management Studies
at large.
from Delhi University wherein I specialized in Finance and
did my internship with KPMG Global Services. I also co-
WHY SHOULD WE CHOOSE YOU?
founded the management society back in college
2 things- strong knowledge of finance and a stronger
- Thereafter, I joined S&P Global Market Intelligence
commitment to work. If I say I’ll do something, I’ll do it with
CapitalIQ, where I collected secondary financial data
utmost sincerity & take full accountability.
from company websites, annual reports & notification
filings, sec & Sedi, IAPD, Form 13D/G, Form 3,4,5
KEY TERMS:
primarily on lines of major shareholders’ beneficial
ownership analyzing strategic & non-strategic nature of
Corporate Strategy:
investments by identifying synergies & calculating public
The art of ensuring that the value of the enterprise as a
float & chances of investor activism, eliminating
whole is more than the sum of its parts. The goal of
fiduciaries/ custodians & shell companies.
corporate strategy is to articulate a vision of a great company
- I also got an opportunity to work on ESG projects in the
that is also a great stock—and to define the specific moves
automotive & social media industries.
needed to bring that vision to life.
- This is wherein I was introduced to ESG-driven
There are four types:
investment funds & how are they changing the financial
Stability-To maintain current business operations
landscape.
Growth & expansion – To grow business & increase profits
- Lastly, I’d like to point out that I am a certified lean
in new geographies/ customer segments
facilitator who has driven multiple process & cost
Revival- To revive an ailing business
optimization projects in my company.
Combination – two or more of the above
Depending upon the relative positioning of the company
WHY STRATEGY CONSULTING?
against its competitors & company life cycle
3-fold:
- Firstly, Opportunity to work on high-impact projects Frameworks include:
- Secondly, Collaborate with the brightest minds around the 3 Cs (Customer, Competition, Company)
world 4Ps (Product, Price, Place, Promotion, Positioning),
- Thirdly, Opportunity to learn & grow at a very steep pace External: Pestel, Porter 5 forces, Demand & Supply
Internal: Value chain, SWOT
I might just add that the future prospects of financial Entry (Need, Awareness, Affordability, Accessibility)
advisory are very bright, the industry is growing at the rate Ansoff’s Matrix
of 15% BCG Matrix
market attractiveness tests
Competitive Positioning
WHY EY?
Vision: “create long-term value for our clients, from strategy Market Sizing -You are the CEO of ManU and you are
to execution.” contemplating on entering into the India market for official
I want to leverage my professional expertise in financial data merchandise. You need to come up with the market size and
research & knowledge of finance & strategy in generating give your recommendation
actionable road maps for our customers.
- EY achieves the highest growth in nearly two decades, Market Entry - You are a manager of a large Renewable
reports record global revenue of US$45.4b company. You need to convince your management to enter
- Carbon negative status reached in FY21, on track to a country of your choice. How would you proceed and what
achieve net-zero ambition in 2025 market entry strategies would you recommend?

CASES & INDUSTRY REPORTS (FM & SM)

STRATEGY FRAMEWORK
1. A well-planned business strategy that is focused on
optimizing shareholder value starts with setting
aspirational, but achievable, targets and evaluating
optional pathways to reach those goals.

SHORT TERM & LONG-TERM GOALS

Short term- grow and learn in the field of strategy consulting
by working in as many industries as possible and identifying
a niche for myself.
Transaction Advisory: public offerings, private placements, capitalization could be used as an indicator of public opinion
mergers & acquisitions, buybacks/ repurchases, corporate of a company's net worth and is a determining factor in
restructuring, bankruptcies, spin-offs, and split-offs. some forms of stock valuation. It should also be noted that
there is an inverse correlation between the size of a
A spin-off distributes shares of the new subsidiary to existing company's float and the volatility of the stock's price. This
shareholders. A split-off offers shares in the new subsidiary makes sense when you think about it, as the greater the
to shareholders but they have to choose between the number of shares available for trade, the less volatility the
subsidiary and the parent company. stock will experience because the harder it will be for a
E.g. Agilent Technologies was spun off from Hewlett-Packard smaller number of shares to move the price.
in 1999; stockholders of HP received Agilent stock.
Investor Activism (MODERN CORPORATE GOVERNANCE)
to identify new opportunities, assess potential deals, perform
deal comparisons, & maximize exit strategies. An activist investor, typically a specialized hedge fund, buys
a significant minority stake in a publicly traded company in
Capital Allocation: Capital allocation is the distribution, re- order to change how it is run.
distribution, and investment of financial resources to
maximize stakeholder profits. It's a strategic financial The activist investor's goals may be as modest as advising
decision made by the chief executive and chief financial company management or as ambitious as forcing the sale of
officers that's critical to a company's long-term success. the company, divestitures or restructuring, or replacing
the board of directors.
M&A:
The term mergers and acquisitions (M&A) refers to the Unlike private equity firms that buy and restructure
consolidation of companies or their major business assets companies in order to profit when they are resold, activist
through financial transactions between companies. A investors seldom acquire full or majority stakes. Instead,
company may purchase and absorb another company they use public communications and private discussions to
outright, merge with it to create a new company, acquire win over other shareholders and company insiders.
some or all of its major assets, make a tender offer for its
stock, or stage a hostile takeover. Do Activist Investors Create Value?
Activist investors have been effective at times in addressing
Divestments: the agency problem faced by shareholders whose interests
Divestment occurs when a company sells off some or all of don't always coincide with those of entrenched
its assets or subsidiaries. While most divestment decisions management teams. They've certainly created value for
are deliberate efforts to streamline operations, forced themselves and other shareholders. Activist investing can't
selling of assets could result from regulatory or legal action easily be pigeonholed as good or bad, however. Activist
such as bankruptcy. investors look out for themselves and realize the lion's share
of the value they unlock. Their relatively short-term focus on
Public Ownership- Detailed equity ownership data strategies likely to lift the share price, such as return of
on public companies worldwide, comprising institutional capital to shareholders in the form of dividends or share
investment firms, mutual funds, and insiders/individual buybacks, can prevent companies from making needed long-
term investments.
owners.

What Is a Poison Pill?

Public Float- the public float or free float represents the
"Poison pill" is a colloquial term for a defense strategy used
portion of shares of a corporation that are in the hands of
by the directors of a public company to prevent activist
public investors as opposed to locked-in shares held by investors, competitors, or other would-be acquirers from
promoters, company officers, controlling-interest investors, taking control of the company by buying up large amounts
or governments. This number is sometimes seen as a better of its stock.
way of calculating market capitalization because it provides
a more accurate reflection (than entire market Poison pills effectively block the accumulation of stakes
capitalization) of what public investors consider the above a set percentage of a company's outstanding
company to be worth. shares by promising to distribute additional free or heavily
- By offering a public float, companies gain access to new discounted shares to all shareholders except those who
and large capital, as the general public can invest in the trigger the provision.
company.
- Opportunities to reduce debt The goal is to prevent outsiders from gaining control without
- companies can enhance their credit image. negotiating with the company's board or paying a negotiated
buyout price to all shareholders.
- companies are vulnerable to threats of speculations and
market fluctuations
ESG FRAMEWORK
- Less public float may cause illiquidity of stocks of
companies due to the low public holdings.
 Emerging trends in your industry:
- Financial services (UPI, BNPL)
- Emerging technologies such as AI & ML
- Migration to cloud infrastructure, upscaling
- Sophisticated tools such as SQL, Python
- Competition from FinTech & NBFCs
- Poor position of NPA
- Rising inflation & Repo rate (WACC)
COMMERCIAL DUE DILIGENCE - Increased consciousness around ESG
- Predictive analytics IN KYC process
- Fewer brick & mortar models

CASE COMMERCIAL DUE DILIGENCE: PE firm wants to invest

in Airbnb, and prepare the points for commercial due
diligence. What all slides would you present with the kind of
research you would do?

Venture capital (VC) is a type of private equity

investment made in an early-stage start-up. Venture
capitalists give the company a certain amount of seed
funding in exchange for a share of it. This is due to a
combination of entrepreneurs seeking out venture
capitalists with a proven track record, and venture
capitalists’ honed eyes for founders who have what it
takes to be successful.

Growth Equity: The second type of private equity

strategy is growth equity, which is capital investment in
an established, growing company.

Buyouts: The final key private equity strategy—and the

one that’s furthest along in the company lifecycle—is
buyouts. Buyouts occur when a mature, typically public
company is taken private and purchased by either a
private equity firm or its existing management team. This
type of investment makes up the largest portion of funds
in the private equity space.
FINANCIAL MODELLING
3. What is your understanding of the role that you have
It’s sort of an abstract representation of information applied to?
pertaining to business activities, market forces, financial etc. Understanding the customer need, refining the objective,
of a company in an excel spreadsheet so as to predict future collecting & analyzing data & presenting it in the form of a
& make more data driven decisions. story to the stakeholder so as to arrive at data-driven, client-
- Operating activity decisions
centric actionable solutions to add to shareholders’ value.
- Investment / disinvestment decisions (including
strategic & non-strategic M&A, IA)
- Financing decisions (WACC) 4. What were the challenges technical and non-technical
when you implemented the XYZ project (from resume)
- Easy to understand TECHNICAL NON-TECHNICAL
- Ability to handle complex business scenarios New tech Resource talent crunch
- Well structured, accurate & visual Unstructured data Delays in prioritization

Your client is about to make a deal which is not beneficial,

how would you structure the deal differently to benefit your 5. what would I do if I am made the CEO of my previous
client? organization (internal & external analysis)

KEY METRICS FOR AN M&A 6. How to optimize working capital for a company,

-Willing Buyer 7. how to model a risk model for a bank in steps, the
-Willing Seller customer journey in applying for a loan to the bank
-Realistic Valuation (by a certified valuation analyst)
Market Capitalization 8. What are the modern analytical tools, and what are the
-Cost & Revenue Synergies (operational, financial, benefits of using AI/ML in Analytics
investment, human resources, legal)
-Transaction (cash & stock bifurcation) 9. A brief introduction, you are going to meet a client
1. Legal tomorrow who is in distress, what all preparation you will
2. Commercial do, and how much will you commit?
3. Financial
4. Human Resources (HR) 10. key achievements of your career
5. Intellectual Property
6. Information Technology 11. WACC, working capital optimization
7. Environmental, Health and Safety (EH&S)
12. Financial ratios in project finance?
8. Tax
P/E ratio? DSCC ratio?
9. Marketing
10. Compliance and Regulatory Matters
13. EBITDA vs EBIT?

▪ EBIT and EBITDA are both measures of a business’s

Q. Give specifics as to how data could change the business
profitability.
models of traditional companies (E-commerce)
COMPANY CUSTOMERS COMPETITORS ▪ EBIT is net income before interest and taxes are
-efficient operation -customer buying -build competitive deducted.
-marketing patterns edge E.g. Amazon
▪ EBITDA additionally excludes depreciation and
-supply chain - personalised reviews
management recommendations -Zomato vs Swiggy amortization.
-human resource - faster TAT ▪ EBIT is often used as a measure of operating profit;
management
-improved product in some cases, it’s equal to the GAAP metric
portfolio operating income.
-better allocation of cost
▪ Companies in asset intensive industries often
-inventory management
-optimizing distribution prefer EBITDA over EBIT.

M&A Consulting Professional - Market Entry

1. Is your last company a market leader? If yes why. If not Strategy, Competitive Positioning
why and what should it do to become a market leader?
[Link]
vs-capital-iq-vs-factset-vs-thomson-reuters-eikon/ With focus on PE client, Abhay has worked across
the M&A deal life cycle in sectors such as Consumer
2. What are the factors that made your last company grow? Products, Financial Services and TMT.
- Inorganic growth by identifying synergies. S&P in Feb 2022
completed the merger with HIS Markit (value chain)
 II. MACRO ECONOMICS rates, and inflation—and can even extend to influence
the job market and real estate sector.
Cash Reserve Ratio (CRR): Each bank has to keep a certain
percentage of its total deposits with RBI as cash reserves. • India suffered an income loss of 5.4% of GDP, the highest
among the G20 nations in 2021, according to the report of
Statutory Liquidity Ratio (SLR): Amount of liquid assets such Climate Transparency. The report highlighted that India
as precious metals (Gold) or other approved securities, that witnessed a record heatwave that greatly
a financial institution must maintain as reserves other than affected workers, labor migrants, low-income households,
the cash. and the homeless, and reduced the yields of wheat crops.

Repo Rate: Repo rate is the rate at which the central bank of
• Talking about global emissions, the USA ranked first, as
a country (Reserve Bank of India in case of India) lends
money to commercial banks in the event of any shortfall of America contributes 25% of it, followed by the European
funds. Repo rate is used by monetary authorities to control Union with 22%. “G20 members account for around 85%
inflation. of global GDP, 75% of international trade, and two-thirds
of the world’s population, and are responsible for around
Reverse Repo Rate (RRR): Reverse repo rate is the rate at three-quarters of global emissions,” the report reads.
which the central bank of a country (Reserve Bank of India in
case of India) borrows money from commercial banks [Link]
income-loss-of-5-4-of-gdp-due-to-heatwave-in-2021-
Inflation is the rate at which the prices of goods and services report/
increase. Inflation often affects the buying capacity of
consumers. Most Central banks try to limit inflation in order
• average inflation rate was 7.5% per year
to keep their respective economies functioning efficiently.
• GDP growth rate cut to 6.5% by IMF
There are certain advantages as well as disadvantages to
inflation.
Causes: an increase in the money supply, the national debt • The RBI increased the repo rate by 50 basis
(increase in borrowing & spending), demand-pull inflation points to 5.9% on September 30, 2022. In the
(increase in disposable income), cost-push (when prices of current fiscal year, the RBI has increased the
raw materials increase & the burden of increase in the cost repo rate four times. The reverse repo rate
of production are passed onto end consumers), fluctuation remains at 3.35%
in exchange rates (exposure to foreign markets especially
when high Exim)
Effect: The most obvious impact of inflation is that it hurts
your purchasing power. If you can't buy as many goods and
services as you did before inflation, your quality of living will
eventually diminish. Hurts the Poor Disproportionately &
raises interest rates.

Deflation: Deflation is generally the decline in the prices of

goods and services that occur when the rate of inflation falls
below 0%. Deflation will take place naturally, if and when the
money supply of an economy is limited. Deflation in an
economy indicates deteriorating conditions.
Causes: Increased productivity, Structural changes in capital
markets, Decrease in the supply of currency.
Effect: Economists fear deflation because falling prices lead
to lower consumer spending, which is a major component of
economic growth. Companies respond to falling prices by
slowing down their production, which leads to layoffs and
salary reductions.

Exchange rate:
1 USD= 82.33 INR (HIGHEST 83)
1 EURO = 81.86 INR

When exchange rates change, the prices of imported

goods will change in value, including domestic products
that rely on imported parts and raw materials. Exchange
rates also impact investment performance, interest