Mergers & Acquisitions Professional Certificate: Online
New! Click here to download the M&A summary sheet highlighting key notes from the M&A course
Click here to download course curriculum
Watch our M&A taster video to learn more about the course:
Taught by instructors with decades of experience on Wall Street, this mergers and acquisitions course will equip analysts and associates with the skills they need to rise in the M&A field. Directors and managers who have transitioned, or hope to transition, to M&A from other areas, such as equities or fixed income, can use this M&A training to eliminate skill gaps.
CPE Credits: 40 - The complete list of CPE courses can be found here.
The M&A Professional Certificate is broken down into 5 courses:
- Concepts and Theories: An Introduction
- Concepts and Theories: Advanced Topics
- Structuring the Deal
- Free Cash Flow: A Powerful Decision-Making Metric
- Accounting for Mergers & Acquisitions
The final step will be the M&A Professional Certification Examination.
- The examination comprises of 20 questions selected randomly from a NYIF M&A Question Test Bank
- Total examination duration is 60 minutes.
- You only have one attempt
- You'll need to score more than 70% to pass the examination and be awarded with the NYIF M&A Professional Certificate
- Teacher's Assistants are available via the discussion forum and will respond within 2-3 business days
Those participants who pass the examination will receive a M&A Professional Certificate from the New York Institute of Finance (NYIF). A NYIF certificate is a valuable addition to your credentials, proving that you have acquired the work-ready skills that employers value.
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To make it even easier to learn, you can finance your program through Affirm.
Loans offered through Affirm are available in the U.S. and Canada.
Duration : 1-2 hours
- Lesson 1: Global M&A
- Lesson 2: Emerging Market M&A Issues
- Lesson 3: Buyer’s Viewpoint
- Lesson 4: Three Ways M&A Increases Value
- Lesson 5: Buy vs. Build, Synergy
Duration : 1-2 hours
- Lesson 1: Starting the Acquisition Process
- Lesson 2: Characteristics of Successful Deals
- Lesson 3: Discussion of Key Risks and Failed Deals
Duration : 1-2 hours
- Lesson 1: How much should the buyer pay?
- Lesson 2: Discuss the DCF and Public Companies
- Lesson 3: Harley Davidson: public companies
- Lesson 4: Comparable M&A and LBO’s
Duration : 1-2 hours
- Lesson 1: Emerging markets companies
- Lesson 2: Money-losing companies, erratic track records; Distressed/bankrupt companies
- Lesson 3: Industry Specific Multiples
- Lesson 4: Natural Resources
- Lesson 5: Speculative Hi-tech
- Lesson 6: Sum-of-parts
- Lesson 7: Free cash flow as an indicator
- Lesson 8: Valuing liquidity and control
Duration : 1-2 hours
- Lesson 1: M&A Financial Accounting: Overview
- Case Study – Apple – RIMM Model Discussion
- Lesson 2: Coming Up with Realistic Assumptions
Duration : 1-2 hours
- Lesson 1: M&A Finance Sources
- Lesson 2: Debt
- Lesson 3: New Equity
- Lesson 4: Contingent Payment
Duration : 1-2 hours
- Lesson 1: The Seller’s Viewpoint
- Lesson 2: Using an Investment Bank
- Lesson 3: The Sale Process
Duration : 1-2 hours
- Lesson 1: First Offer
- Lesson 2: Disclosure of Acquisitions
- Lesson 3: Hostile Takeover Defenses
- Lesson 4: Private Equity
Duration : 1-2 hours
- Lesson 1: Review M&A Sale Process
- Lesson 2: Where Do Legal Agreements Fit In
- Lesson 3: Corporate Documents
- Lesson 4: IB Engagement Letter
Duration : 1-2 hours
- Lesson 1: Confidentiality Agreement (CA): Non-Disclosure Agreement (NDA)
- Lesson 2: Term Sheet
- Lesson 3: Letter of Intent
- Lesson 4: Definitive Agreements
Duration : 1-2 hours
- Lesson 1: Merger
- Lesson 2: Stock purchase
- Lesson 3: Asset purchase
- Lesson 4: Legal Structures: Advantages & Disadvantages
Duration : 1-2 hours
- Triangular Mergers
Duration : 1-2 hours
- Lesson 1: Introduction
- Lesson 2: Stock Purchase Deal
- Lesson 3: Asset Purchase Deal
- Lesson 4: Stock vs. Assets Purchase
Duration : 1-2 hours
- Lesson 1: Introduction
- Lesson 2: Tax Free Reorganizations
- Lesson 3: Tax-Free Acquisition Structure Alternatives
Duration : 1-2 hours
- Lesson 1: Accounting Rules
- Lesson 2: Letter of Intent - Refresher
Duration : 1-2 hours
- Lesson 1: Introduction
- Lesson 2: Earnouts and Hope Certificates
- Lesson 3: Contingent Considerations
Duration : 1-2 hours
- Lesson 1: Introduction
- Lesson 2: Tax Loss Mergers
- Lesson 3: Break Up/Sum of Parts/Split Off
- Lesson 4: LBOs Merger Structure
- Lesson 5: Roll ups, Consolidation Plays
- Lesson 6: Distressed/bankruptcy Structures
- Lesson 7: Special Purpose Acquisition Corps (SPAC)
- Lesson 8: Reverse Merger
- Lesson 9: Private Equity Industry Review
Duration : 1-2 hours
- Lesson 1: Need for Free Cash Flow
- Lesson 2: Understanding Free Cash Flow
- Lesson 3: Relationship between Free Cash Flow and Market Value
- Lesson 4: Return on Investment
- Lesson 5: Adjusting Accounting Data to Get to Free Cash Flow
- Lesson 6: Components of Free Cash Flow
- Lesson 7: Show Me
- Lesson 8: Adjustments to Net Investment
- Class Exercise
Duration : 1-2 hours
- Lesson 1: Focus on Free Cash Flow
- Lesson 2: Understanding the Components of Free Cash Flow
Duration : 1-2 hours
- Lesson 1: Understanding Cost of Capital
- Lesson 2: CAPM & WACC
- Class Exercise
Duration : 1-2 hours
- Lesson 1: Capital Budgeting: Overview
- Lesson 2: Guidelines for Capital Budgeting
- Lesson 3: Q&A
- Lesson 4: Caveats
Duration : 1-2 hours
- Free Cash Flow and Interim Financial Results
Duration : 1-2 hours
- Lesson 1: Overview
- Lesson 2: Acquisition Analysis
- Lesson 3: Objective to add Shareholder Value
- Lesson 4: Synergies and Integration Costs
- Lesson 5: Q&A
- Lesson 6: Other Metrics
- Class Exercise
- Lesson 7: Incentive Compensation
Duration : 1-2 hours
- Lesson 1: Integration Best Practices
- Lesson 2: Integration Planning
Duration : 1-2 hours
- Implementation Issues
Duration : 1-2 hours
- Lesson 1: General Accounting Guidelines
- Lesson 2: Significant Control
- Lesson 3: Summary of Accounting Under the Equity Model
- Lesson 4: Dividends and Excess of Costs over Book Equity
- Lesson 5: Adjustments for Intercompany Transactions
- Lesson 6: Tax Considerations of the Equity Method
- Lesson 7: Cash Flow Accounting in Equity Methods
- Class Exercise
Duration : 1-2 hours
- Lesson 1: The Cost Method
- Lesson 2: Four Sub-Categories of the Cost Method
- Lesson 3: Consolidation
- Lesson 4: Minority Interests
Duration : 1-2 hours
- Lesson 1: Purchase Accounting Basics
- Lesson 2: Steps to Record Acquired Balance Sheet
- Lesson 3: Step 1: Eliminate Existing Goodwill
- Lesson 4: Step 2: Reduce Equity Accounts
- Lesson 5: Step 3: Adjusting Assets and Liabilities to FMV
- Lesson 6: Step 4: Intangible Assets
- Lesson 7: Step 5: Record Unrecognized Restructuring Charges
- Lesson 8: Fair Value of Consideration
- Lesson 9: Fair Value of Contingent Payment
- Lesson 10: Calculating Goodwill
- Lesson 11: Non-Controlling Interests
- Lesson 12: Accretion and Dilution
Duration : 1-2 hours
- Lesson 1: Section 338 Overview
- Lesson 2: Tax-deductible Goodwill and Intangibles
- Lesson 3: NOL Carry forwards and Others