After the trip to Frankfurt a few weeks ago, the second Finest in Finance company event of the summer term 2024 took place in Cologne on April 30th, 2024. Following the internal semester kick-off and the welcoming and introduction of the new members, the group set off together by train to the beautiful office of RSM Ebner Stolz located directly at the riverside. There, the members of the program had the opportunity to get to know the company, received some background knowledge on carve-out deals, and solved an exciting case study on the acquisition and sale of a specialized business division of a mechanical engineering company. The case study was derived from a real project of RSM Ebner Stolz, allowing the students to get insights of the day-to-day project work of RSM Ebner Stolz’s consultants. At the beginning, the students were divided into three groups, the sell side, the buy side of a strategic investor, and the buy side of a financial investor. This led to a lively discussion of the various takeover bids and their respective justifications. The students were able to put their mathematical and analytical skills to the test while gaining new insights into the German M&A market for small and medium sized companies. At the end, the RSM Ebner Stolz team answered remaining questions and were engaged in valuable conversations with the students in a relaxed atmosphere with delicious snacks and drinks just outside of the office.

Many thanks to Julian Bergmeister and the whole RSM Ebner Stolz team for the invitation and the exciting insights!