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Overview

Recommended Prep Courses

These preparatory courses are optional, but we recommend you complete the stated prep course(s) or possess the equivalent knowledge prior to enrolling in this course:

Mergers and Acquisitions (M&A) Modeling Course

Welcome to CFI’s advanced financial modeling course on mergers and acquisitions (M&A). This course is designed for professionals working in investment banking, corporate development, private equity, and other areas of corporate finance that deal with analyzing M&A transactions.

M&A Modeling Course Objectives

This advanced financial modeling course has several objectives including:

Learn how to structure an M&A model in the most efficient way
Set up all the assumptions and drivers required to build out the M&A model
Calculate all the necessary adjusting entries required to create a post-transaction balance sheet
Integrate the acquirer and the target into a pro forma model
Calculate the accretion or dilution of key per-share metrics post-transaction
Perform sensitivity analysis on key assumptions and assess the overall impact of the transaction

Who should take this course?

This class is perfect for anyone who wants to learn how to build a financial model for mergers and acquisitions from the bottom up. The video-based lessons will teach you all the formulas and functions to calculate stub periods, outline sources and uses of cash, perform a purchase price allocation and determine goodwill, create multiple scenarios for synergies and other key assumptions, and integrate all of the above into a well laid out pro forma model. In addition to learning the detailed mechanics of how to build the model, students will also learn how to assess the impact of the transaction through accretion/dilution analysis and the impact on the implied share price (intrinsic value per share). By performing sensitivity analysis, users will understand how a change in assumptions impacts future outcomes of the merger or acquisition.

Mergers and Acquisitions Course Case Study

This course is built on a case study of Online Company Inc acquiring Brick ‘n’ Mortar Co. Through the course of the transaction, students will learn about:

The construction of a detailed Pro Forma model
Analysis of synergies, revenue enhancements, cost structures
Integration considerations
Accretion / dilution analysis
Deal terms and structuring
The strategic impact of combining the businesses
Share price impact

What’s included in this M&A course?

This mergers and acquisitions course includes all of the following:

Blank M&A model template (Excel)
Completed M&A model template (Excel)
4+ hours of detailed video instruction
Certificate of completion

Mergers & Acquisitions (M&A) Modeling

Led by Tim Vipond

Get Started

Level 4

Approx 8h to complete

100% online and self-paced

Get Recognized With CFI

See All Certification Programs

What you'll learn

Lesson

Multimedia

Exams

Files

Introduction to M&A Modeling

Course introduction Free Preview

Course downloads - M&A model and reference files

Course objectives Free Preview

Types of advanced financial models Free Preview

Transaction details Free Preview

Forms of consideration & synergies Free Preview

Purchase price allocation and accretion/dilution Free Preview

M&A case study overview Free Preview

Interactive exercise 1 Free Preview

M&A Modeling Process

10-step M&A process

M&A templates and resources

Strategic versus financial buyers

M&A model conceptual representation

6-step M&A modeling process

Case study model layout and structure

Case study steps overview

Interactive exercise 2

Acquirer and Target Models

Structure of target and acquirer models

Financial statement mapping

Income statement mapping

Balance sheet mapping

Comparing acquirer and target statements

Creating the transaction stub period

Stub income statement

Stub balance sheet

Stub cash flow

Stub supporting schedules

Interactive exercise 3

Transaction Assumptions

Deal assumptions

M&A transaction inputs

Setting up scenarios

Purchase price

Sources and uses of cash

Shares issued and shares outstanding

Goodwill and purchase price allocation (PPA)

Interactive exercise 4

Closing Balance Sheet

Closing balance sheet introduction

Acquirer and target balance sheets

Fair value adjustments

Other adjustments

Consolidated pro forma balance sheet

Interactive exercise 5

Pro Forma Financial Model

Pro forma model overview

Merger integration revenue

Merger integration expenses

Combined income statement

Combined balance sheet

Changes in working capital

Depreciation schedule

Debt schedule

Target and acquirer debt

Interest schedule

Completing the cash flow statement

Pro forma DCF model setup

Pro forma DCF free cash flow

Pro forma DCF model NPV

Interactive exercise 6

Accretion & Dilution Analysis

Accretion dilution analysis

Earnings per share (EPS) impact

Cash flow per share (CFPS) impact

Testing scenarios

Interactive exercise 7

Sensitivity Analysis & Share Price Impact

Sensitivity analysis overview

Estimating change in intrinsic value per share

Impact on capital structure

M&A sensitivity data tables

Testing sensitivity analysis

Interactive exercise 8

M&A Modeling Conclusion

Download completed M&A model

Review of completed financial model

Summary

Qualified Assessment

This Course is Part of the Following Programs

Why stop here? Expand your skills and show your expertise with the professional certifications, specializations, and CPE credits you’re already on your way to earning.

Financial Modeling & Valuation Analyst (FMVA)® Certification

Mergers & Acquisitions (M&A) Modeling is part of the Financial Modeling & Valuation Analyst (FMVA)® certification, which includes 42 courses.

Skills Learned Financial modeling and valuation, sensitivity analysis, strategy
Career Prep Investment banking and equity research, FP&A, corporate development

Learn More

Commercial Banking & Credit Analyst (CBCA)® Certification

Mergers & Acquisitions (M&A) Modeling is part of the Commercial Banking & Credit Analyst (CBCA)® certification, which includes 59 courses.

Skills Learned Financial Analysis, Credit Structuring, Risk Management
Career Prep Commercial Banking, Credit Analyst, Private Lending

Learn More

What our students say

A must to do for Finance students & Professionals

Puneet Kumar Bagga

Amazing learning experience
I loved this course. The course presenter explained complex topics in a very easy way, loved it.

hassan raza

Happy to learn M&A
The course is so much fun, even thought its complex and complicated. But M&A is important to know and excel to especially for those working on financial company. I'm happy to learn more and review my excel model every time I need to learn and rewind what i've study

Arvin winatha

Great Course
First time learning M&A models and it was great!

Colm Heatley

Something is wrong with the way in which the exam has been prepared. For example, no accretion/dilution section in the excel sheet.

Farah Hersi

A great course
The course curriculum is well designed and there are lot of new learning for me. It is not easy course but love to learn and go in depth.

Debasis Sengupta

Broad Knowledge of the Finance World
Broad Knowledge of the Finance World

Ibrahim Shamshad

A must have course
It is a must have course for all finance professionals. Very precise and carefully crafted course outline.

Gohar Shahzad

great course
great example of a full in depth M&A model

Aaron Garrido

Great Course
A lot of info but i learned a lot

Michelle Eisenberg

Very deep and detail
This course is very deep with concepts and has vast of materials to practice. Let's give it a try!

Atinafu Asefa

Enjoyable
Wish there was some more exercises to do on our own. Build the model from an even more early stage to really understand the steps. It was a little too much cookie-cutter

Daniil Ostroumov

interesting
too many questions for the exam, but it worth it!

Arlette Esther Ndoutoumou

wonderful
this course is very detailed and superbly delivered

Emmanuel Obeahon

Excellent Course and Highly Practical
Love it how these courses work in combination with the CFA. Great job to Tim and his team on these courses.

Ari Shah

Very well explained and practically approached course.

Agha Kamil Yar

Engaging
Must do in this certification

Rahul Patole

Very advanced course. Thanks Tim!

Abdul Aziz Rasheedy

The course not easy is difficult and very complicated but it's a challenge for any one who's want to stand in role of certified
The course is really for finance professional

Saifeldeen El Shaikh

I 1000% recommend this certification, it has helped me a lot and I know it will help other people as well. the instructors are excellent and have incredible knowledge. I think the best part of these courses is that I can solve independently on excel and if I'm stuck I can look at the videos to clarify my doubts.

arnav garg

Amazing Experience!
It was truly a nice experience to complete this course.

Arif Hossain

good
i enjoyed learning this course

Ritika Vishnani

Detailed
The content and delivery has been quite detailed and thorough! I love this!

CPA Ishmael Opande

Excellent Course
A great course to learn

Pragadeesh Nandivarman

GREAT STUFF
Another great course which ties up previous courses and takes it a step further.

Dan Hurwitz

M&A Modeling Course
The example model is a great template.

Patrick Alger

Overall very good module
Very nicely explained

Sneha Aminabhavi

great course
step by step learning method really helps me to understand the full concept of this course

Yohanes Lusli

Nice course
awesome course which guide you to a path of success

SAURABH SINGH

grate.
one of the best courses in FMVA.

Othman Al-Garawi

Simple to understand
focusing on key points in elaborative manner

Harshil Gandhi

Mergers & Acquisitions (M&A) Modeling
A real good one, but still showing my marks 80% only, even I have done 100% twice.

Mazhar Asghar Ali

An improvement in confidence intervals and analytical skills
my analytical skills has greatly accelarated ever since i started my journey with FMVA.Important courses such as Advance financial model,sensitivity and scenario analyses has changed the way i look at a financial statement and these has greatly improve my confidence intervals

KUPTO JULIUS NKENGONG

Step by step progress to have you understand
Detailed and useful exercises to progress along

Marco Atsushi

Stimulating
Teachers deliver the course in a clear, concise and explanatory manner; all while supported by high quality material.

edoardo selmi

Good
Informative but could be presented more logically.

Syed Faheem

Awesome
Very helpful in learning the basics of M&A

Joseph Foeckler

Excellent training content
Perfect hands on training. More interactive exercises would be great.

Rishabh Baiswar

Great course
Not sure if this is valid for CPA hours.

Julien Magnan

Nice intro to give overall logic of M&A Modelling
Excellent course to have an intro on M&A Modelling and acquire the good reflex

Yan Christiaens

M&A with no share price/outstanding
I want to understand more about M&A with no share price and no share outstanding in the case of non-stock entities like LLC and single own enterprises.

Ramsey Villanueva, MBM, CPA, CMA

Perfect experience
This course offers great materials for improving abilities and skills in finance fields

Gerardo Maria Colarossi

Excellent
Certificate exam was really nice

Surjit Basantaray

Truly recommend this elective course for futher clarifications.

Timo Kurki

It was amazing journey
Strongly recommended !!!

Sergey Fedotov

Very informative
I enjoyed the course and the methodology.

Ahmet Pecen

insightful
The course was detailed and incisive in the way it put forward the concepts.

Dario Babb

Unreal course!
As a CPA who works in transaction advisory (financial diligence), this a great course to build on your modeling skills and transition into FP&A roles.

Joseph Oldham

The course was very practical
The step by step introduction and process of M&A transaction was enlightening and very practical.

Nihar Mishra

Cool
Wonderful experience, just like play puzzle game.

Bo Li

wonderful
A must take for every finance professional.

SURYA NARAYANA MURTHY DANTU

Very Useful Course.
A must take course for investment banking professionals.

saketh vuppalapati

Felt like a real financial analyst working for an investment bank.
This course really helps you understand how real work M&A transaction works and what are critical things to evaluate. Without this course I never would have been able to picture the transactional complexities in a M&A transaction.

Masood ur Rehman

Great course.
A course every finance professional should take.

Mang Sian Lian

Mergers & Acquisitions (M&A) Modeling
How to model a pro forma analysis

SOLOMON AGYAPONG

Title okay.
Great teaching material but the text is tough!

Samuel Oluwafemi Olaleye

Its overwhelming with all the calculation
Very well understood and improve my excel usage

Mary Odebode

Excellent course
The Instructor was precise and right to the point.

Umar Kibirango

M&A Financial Modeling
I really like this course!

Teeranuch Kongmuang

Mergers & Acquisitions (M&A) Modeling
really best practice

FRANSISCA MA

Review of the course "M&A Advanced Financial Modeling"
Very interesting, a bit tough also, understanding the concepts and terminologies which is a challenging task for someone with no finance background.

Abhay Kumar Sinha

Missing piece of the Valuation Modeling Course Part 2
This course does an excellent job of walking us through building a complex M&A model for the merger of two companies. If you took the Valuation Modeling Course Part 2 and felt it missed some practical grounding, this is it. I recommend this to everyone who is an M&A practitioner.

Dans Jurcāns

Business Valuation Modeling
CFI is the best online platform for finance courses, I highly recommend all of the courses. I have taken 4 courses and they are awesome. Easy to learn and very well explained.

Fernando Mora

Excellent course.
Very useful and very simply expained. Thank you very much. will recommend to all my friends :-)

Gulshat Uspanova

Excellent!
I absolutely loved this course!

Mikhail Powell

Highly Recommended
Highly recommended for anyone who want to have a serious course on M&A modeling

Hendra Rakhmawan

Great Course..!!!
Full model and analysis.

Tancredo Oliveira

Course and Examination
I feel so great to have learnt a lot from the CFI team and am really proud of the institute method of lecturing. I will keep recommending CFI to colleagues and friends. Orelope. FMVA

Ganiyu Opeyemi Orelope

Concise, Clear & World Class M&A Advance Modeling Course
I would recommend this M&A course because it helps provide understanding regarding a world class M&A Advance Financial Modeling.

David Avalos

Excellent presentation on the Merger and Acquisition deal, the impact on various key items like share price, EV etc.

venugopal rajamanuri

A must learn
This course is very important to all finance people leaving/working in developing countries where M&A activities are not yet in or are still new or being at implementation phase

Innocent Rukundo Musabyimana

M&A Modelling experience
Very comprehensive & detailed course. Even after year of experience still have something to gain fro this course

Panagis (Panos) Alivizatos

Wonderful Course covered by Tim Vipond on Financial Modeling
First of all, I thank Tim Vipond for being very clear and simple on this complicated topic. I really got benefitted with this course. The Mergers & Acquisitions course changed my way of financial modeling and it's going to help me a lot for the prediction of share pricing of the companies. Thank You CFI

Ahmad Din

Great methodology and undertsanding
This course provided a great framework for M&A modeling and valuations. In doing so it helps to gain decent understanding of the mechanisms and decision making behind effective merger or acquisition activities. Great course, well and practically presented

Matt Beckett

An outstanding course!
An outstanding course in M&A modelling with just enough detail to neither lose sight of the big picture, nor to provide just a simplified overview. Key concepts such as dilution/accretion are clearly explained while taking into consideration cash vs. stock-structured deals. The clear model struture is a CFI's watermark. The instructor tutors the learning material in a clear fashion without fluff or unnecessary details. Just another piece of great work!

Evgeni Radilov

M&A Made Simple
The structure and delivery make M&A Modeling course looks approachable and straightforward from what you read in the theories. Awesome.

Moses Kargbo

Financial Risk Analyst
Excellent!

Vinodh Kumar Soundararajan

Mergers & Acquisitions (M&A) Modeling course review
Amazing world-class learning experience with distinct teaching method !‎ I appreciate the efforts done to bring M&A course in a practical way. No waste of time in ‎theories and unnecessary side information.‎ Although I’m not yet an “M&A practitioner”, I quickly gained a deep understanding of this major ‎sector in today’s corporate environment. The material was presented in an incredibly ‎organized and very well thought-out manner: Just practice, relevant knowledge and tools to ‎take directly to the daily work where, surely, based on my experience in similar activities, I can ‎get immediate results, add value to the customer and make real difference. ‎ The course is a real illustration of “preference of skills over qualifications” . ‎ Enjoy.‎ Mr. Driss Maknoun Corporate Development Professional

Driss Maknoun

Full Coverage for M&A
Very powerful coverage for such area of evaluation.

Muhamed Yusif El Kady

Very informative course
Very good course, felt that there was way too much information on M&A to be taught in the time given. More time should be placed in each area, or splitting this into two more in-depth courses as information was difficult to absorb.

Bryce Nie

Mustafa Nasser

Gowri Subramanian

Frequently asked questions

What are the requirements to take the courses?

All of our certification programs are open to students and professionals in various industries and levels of experience. Our curriculum is designed to teach what you need to know from basic fundamentals to advanced practical case studies. To take the courses and complete the exercises, students will only need access to a PC and/or Mac, Microsoft Suite (2016 or newer), and a stable internet connection. Click here to view the Technical Requirements

Can I download the Excel files and financial modeling templates for the course?

Absolutely! All the files and templates needed in a course are available for download. Just look for a module that shows Downloadable Files within the course dashboard. See here for a visual guide on how to do this.

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You will have yearly access to the courses as long as you maintain an active subscription. All the courses are self-paced as well so you can take your time in learning without worrying about any deadlines. Click here to compare our available enrollment options.

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Yes, CFI is accredited by the Better Business Bureau® (BBB) to maintain training standards, the CPA Institutions in Canada, and the National Association of State Boards of Accountancy (NASBA) in the USA. Most of our courses qualify for verified CPE credits for CPA charter holders. Please refer to this page to view all available CPE credits.

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Students must complete all the video lessons, quizzes, and final assessments in each course. You can retake the assessments as many times as necessary until you reach an 80% passing grade. For more information on how to earn a course certificate, click HERE.

How are the exams conducted?

Students are required to complete an online assessment (Multiple choice questions, Fill-in-the-Blanks, and Excel Questions) at the end of each course. You can take the exams on your own schedule and will need to earn at least 80% to pass the course and earn your certificate of course completion. Please note that course exams can be repeated as many times as you need. Students are also required to complete the FMVA® final exam to earn their certification. How to Take a Qualified Assessment

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While the courses are designed mainly for self-study, we are happy to provide email assistance for general or technical support inquiries. The Full Immersion bundles include a premium email support function that allows you to communicate directly with in-house experts regarding course content. This is one of the key features that sets the Full Immersion bundle apart and makes it a worthwhile upgrade over the more affordable self-study bundle. You can compare more features in our bundles here.

Will these courses help me advance my career?

Based on hundreds of reviews from thousands of students we know how CFI courses have helped so many people advance their finance careers. Our courses are designed to be extremely practical and simulate the experience of being trained as a professional financial analyst…the ultimate way to advance your career. For real-world examples and to help delve even deeper into the course concepts, please look into our free career resources library.