Connecting Theory with Practice: Oxford Saïd take on Chicago Booth in first annual finance challenge

Two teams of five finance students from Oxford Saïd and Chicago Booth met in the city of dreaming spires in February 2016 for the first Oxford Chicago Global Private Equity Challenge, run in association with the University of Oxford’s Private Equity Institute and the University of Chicago’s Polsky Center for entrepreneurship and Innovation.

The Challenge:

To assess the potential for a private equity investment (LBO) of a publicly-listed company, and present their proposals for a buyout transaction to a board of industry experts who would decide on the winning team.

The Oxford Saïd team — Alex Bertoli, Johan Krynauw, and Daniel Schacter from the MBA programme, and Nicolas Hartmann and Julian Müller from the MSc in Financial Economics (MFE) programme — looked at the company Moleskine in Italy. They were advised by Andreas Angelopoulos.

Andrew Alexander, Michael Eisinger, Bradley Powell, Michael Vander Roest and Edward White, from the MBA programme at Chicago Booth, looked at the company Planet Fitness in the USA. They were advised by Christopher McGowan.

The Experts:

Humphrey Battcock of Advent International, Khaled Saïd of Capital Generation Partners (Oxford alumnus), James Brooks of Goldman Sachs Merchant Bank (Oxford alumnus), and Zeynep Yenel of Goldman Sachs Financial Sponsors Group.

The results, which were announced over dinner at Exeter College, saw the boys from Chicago as victors.

‘One of my weekend highlights was dinner at Exeter; it was a real treat to be exposed to the University’s traditions. I also loved the camaraderie with Oxford’s coach, Andreas, and the rest of the Oxford team.’

Edward White, Chicago MBA

The weekend also included lectures and seminars from experts which focused on subjects such as acquisition finance modelling and LBO acquisition. Following the competition presentations, the teams attended the 10th Annual Private Equity Forum.

‘One of my goals throughout the MBA was to build the skills needed to work in private equity (PE), and the competition provided amazing exposure to every stage of PE process from sourcing the right company, to building our strategic and financial model, and presenting to an experienced investment. After taking the Finance Lab and working through the competition, not only has this led to job opportunities in the field but, more importantly, I feel completely comfortable with every stage of the recruiting process and delivering high-quality work once there.’

Daniel Schacter, Oxford MBA

‘The combination of speaker series and office visits gave us a pretty extensive immersion on the current state of the private equity market. We very much appreciated the chance to learn.’

Bradley Powell, Chicago MBA

‘The challenge was such a unique experience; we were competing against the best financial minds from the number one finance school in the USA, which in itself was a great networking opportunity.’

Johan Krynauw, Oxford MBA

‘The challenge provided an excellent opportunity to link all the theoretical concepts I’ve learnt throughout the course thus far (such as corporate finance, private equity and financial modelling) with a real life case study. For me, the highlight of the weekend was being questioned by industry professionals, who had more than 30 years of private equity experience on our ideas and numbers; I really enjoyed being forced to defend our strategy.’

Julian Müller, Oxford MFE

‘The challenge was the perfect opportunity for me to prepare for my life in PE. It helped me tremendously in understanding an investment committee’s thinking, and the process allowed me to develop key skills such as modelling, developing an investment thesis, and defending a proposal.’
Nicolas Hartmann, Oxford MFE

I’m so pleased we took the decision to sign up for the challenge. Some of us didn’t have PE experience and were seeking exposure that might be helpful for educational or career purposes; the rest of us are definitely entering the field, so took this opportunity as a chance to hone our skills. Also, how could you turn down the chance to take part in an event at Oxford Saïd?!

Michael Vander Roest, Chicago MBA

A full report of the competition can be viewed here.