We kick off the program with a broad overview of the M&A landscape: what it is, who’s involved, and how deals are structured from start to finish. You’ll gain a clear understanding of the key players, the typical deal timeline, and the core processes on both the buy side and sell side.

We’ll cover the roles of Corporate Development, M&A Lead Advisory, Accounting, and Legal teams, then break down the end-to-end journey of a transaction. This includes everything from investment theses and target identification to due diligence, valuation, and integration.

By the end of this module, you’ll be able to confidently explain how a deal progresses, whether you're advising a client, acquiring a business, or preparing for sale.

The M&A process you follow depends on which side of the deal you are on.

Working on the sell side requires upfront preparation so you can accurately present an attractive opportunity to potential buyers. Toward the back end of the process, you assist the buy side in gathering the information required to make an investment decision.

Working on the buy side involves setting a clear investment strategy from the outset and identifying potential opportunities that align with that strategy. At the back end, you confirm that the opportunity aligns with the strategy and does not pose any deal-breaking red flags.

We walk through the unique procedures for both sides, so you understand the full picture of what takes place during a deal.

Due diligence is the stage where deals most commonly fall apart, as unexpected red flags are raised. The purpose of this chapter is to teach you what a financial due diligence report looks like and highlight potential red flags to watch for.

We begin by covering how the three financial statements - profit & loss, balance sheet, and cash flow statement - are all linked.

This includes a practical case study to solidify your understanding of three-statement modeling.

Next, we cover financial analysis and the framework I use to uncover financial insights.

Finally, we move on to what a financial due diligence report looks like, with the chapter culminating in you producing your own report using the provided mock dataroom.

This course provides a comprehensive introduction to financial modeling and valuation. You’ll start by building a complete 3-statement model from scratch, using historical data and step-by-step guidance to develop accurate projection drivers.

Once the financial model is complete, you’ll move into valuation, focusing on Discounted Cash Flow (DCF) modeling. Using Virgin Australia as a case study, you’ll learn how to value a company by projecting free cash flows, estimating the weighted average cost of capital (WACC), and calculating intrinsic value.

This course is designed to give you hands-on experience with real financial data, ensuring you gain practical skills that are directly applicable in investment banking, corporate finance, and other finance roles. By the end, you’ll be confident building and interpreting both 3-statement and DCF models.

In this final module, we tie together the deal process by exploring what happens after the ink dries.

You’ll gain insight into how value is actually realised after the deal closes, with a high-level look at integration planning, synergy tracking, and cultural alignment.

This module is designed to give you the practical context and language to speak confidently about how deals succeed, or fail, in the real world.