MBA Students Win Investment Banking Case Competition

Four Georgetown McDonough MBA students won first place in the 2020 Richmond ACG Cup Competition on Feb. 19 in Richmond, Virginia. The students competed against five teams from regional MBA programs and received $3,500 in prize money. 

The Richmond ACG Cup Competition is an annual competition that focuses on topics in investment banking, mergers and acquisitions, and private equity. This year’s challenge involved advising a restaurant chain on a private equity firm’s bid to purchase the chain, as well as additional acquisition opportunities for the chain itself. 

At the end of the competition, the team presented the case to a panel of judges, which asked questions about their analysis. 

“An important aspect of our success was due to the diverse mindset valued by every member of our team. It is critical for everyone to have a mindset of respecting and admiring diversity, especially during such a short and intense project,” said team member Peian Wang (MBA’21). 

Much of the analysis for the case involved crunching numbers to determine whether the restaurant chain should consider the offer of the private equity firm. To complete the case, the team members utilized many skills acquired from their finance courses at Georgetown. 

“Finance classes like valuation and financial modelling helped me on the technical side of the case, and presentation skills practiced in classes like ethical leadership and firm analysis helped me on the public speaking side,” said team member Chao Sun (MBA’21). 

In addition to the classes themselves, the team believes that Georgetown’s faculty provided them with the necessary skills and strategies to win the competition. 

“Thanks to distinguished faculty, we learned so much valuable information which helped us win the competition. Professor Pinkowitz, for example, was a key to success in the competition,” said team member Keisuke Adachi (MBA’20).