Graduate students from the Southern Illinois University Edwardsville School of Business repeated last week as winners of the Association for Corporate Growth (ACG) Cup of St. Louis at Emerson’s corporate headquarters. The SIUE team captured the $5,000 prize and earned the opportunity to represent St. Louis in a larger regional competition during May against winning teams from the Kansas City and Omaha regionals.
The SIUE team defeated competitors from Washington University in St. Louis, Saint Louis University and the University of Missouri-St. Louis.
The SIUE team consisted of Stan Blustein, Anne Peterson, Eric Robert and Kiran Satwani. They were coached by Rakesh Bharati, professor of economics and finance, and Shrikant Jategaonkar, assistant professor of economics and finance.
“The ACG Cup competition represents a unique educational experience for student competitors,” said Gary Giamartino, dean of the SIUE School of Business. “We are grateful to the St. Louis ACG chapter for organizing the event, and we look forward to representing the St. Louis region in the next level of competition.”
The annual competition is sponsored by the St. Louis Chapter of the Association for Corporate Growth (http://www.acg.org/stlouis/acgcup.aspx). The ACG Cup is a case study competition designed to give students from leading MBA programs across the country real world experience and invaluable insights into mergers and acquisitions, investment banking, financial advisory and private equity. Each case study provides students with a unique opportunity to present valuation, capital markets, and mergers and acquisition strategic advice to a panel of seasoned professionals from within the ACG community.
The case study involved consulting the investment committee for a family-owned private equity firm. The firm was interested in purchasing a U.S.-based automotive dealer conglomerate with both national and international operations. The task was to value the company, structure leveraged buyout scenarios and advise the potential use of a sale-leaseback for the conglomerate’s real estate in the transaction. Teams had to establish appropriate capital sources and uses, project 5- and 10-year investment returns, and ensure any recommended action satisfied not only the investment requirements of the equity firm, but also the goals of the conglomerate’s owners and management.
Peterson acknowledged the challenge of the time constraint. “We had one week to evaluate the case, make a recommendation and prepare a presentation,” she said. “Our cohesiveness truly set us apart from the competition. We all enjoyed being a part of the team, and the judges saw how well we worked together.”
Robert thought the SIUE team’s consultative approach to the recommendation was a difference maker. “From the start, we viewed our solution through both the prism of sound business judgment and salability,” he said. “It isn’t enough to simply run the numbers and sound like a financial analyst. We applied the analytics to a compelling story and explained why the transaction benefitted both buyer and seller.”
“The judges mentioned that the SIUE team seemed most organized in their presentation,” Jategaonkar said. “Also, it was the quality of their presentation book, their ability to work as a team and effectively answer the tough questions.”
Robert also complimented the faculty support. “One of the most significant factors separating our team from the competition was support from Dr. Jategaonkar, Dr. Bharati, Dean Giamartino, and Associate Dean Janice Joplin,” he said. “They all offered valuable feedback and unconditional support. While they weren’t able to assist directly with the case, their constructive criticism and mentoring sessions helped us hone in our analysis and presentation skills.”
“As a student with no personal industry experience, this competition gave me insight as to what a job in this field would entail,” Peterson explained. “Many of the executives and faculty members at the competition commented on how realistic this case was.”
The academic benefit is that the ACG Cup is the equivalent to a full three credit course in asset valuation along with mergers and acquisition analysis rolled into one. “The result is a more functional working knowledge of the material than a standard graduate level course,” Robert said. “But the best part is that, instead of a tuition bill, we actually got paid for this learning experience!”
ACG Chapters nationwide host ACG Cup competitions, enabling ACG members to forge closer relationships with the leading business schools in their region. The next generation of business leaders is introduced to the premier mergers and acquisition, corporate growth and corporate development community members.
SIUE graduate students (L to R) Kiran Satwani, Anne Peterson, Eric Robert and Stan Blustein win the ACG Cup.