Mergers and Acquisitions Finance Training Course

Duration 5 days 10 modules · 33 contact hours
Level Intermediate Certificate on completion
Who attends Corporate Development Managers, Finance Managers and others
Fee from USD 1,100 KSh 95,000 for Kenyan organisations
Where 52 cities + online See dates by city
Next start 9 Nov 2026 Course code SD-FM-096

Before you join: Participants should understand core financial statements, budgeting, cash flow and basic corporate finance concepts such as enterprise value, debt and equity.

Dates & prices

Two start dates a month in every city, and live online on weekdays or weekends. Fees are per participant; classroom fees include tuition, materials, lunch and refreshments, and the certificate.

Suggest a date or city

Showing the next six months. Later dates, other cities and private deliveries for your team are available on request.

Course overview

Mergers and acquisitions require finance professionals to make decisions before all facts are known, often under deadline pressure and with significant financial exposure. A weak valuation, unsupported synergy assumption, overlooked debt-like item or poorly structured purchase-price mechanism can destroy expected value. Finance teams must assess targets, challenge management forecasts, compare funding options and present clear recommendations to investment committees, boards and lenders.

This course develops the financial analysis and transaction skills needed to support acquisitions, disposals, mergers and carve-outs. Participants examine the deal lifecycle from strategic rationale and target screening through due diligence, valuation, financing, negotiation, closing and post-acquisition review. They build and interpret discounted cash flow valuations, trading comparables, precedent transactions, sources-and-uses schedules, integrated transaction models and accretion-dilution analyses. The course also addresses quality of earnings, working capital, net debt, purchase-price mechanisms, debt capacity, covenants, IFRS 3 accounting and integration value tracking.

Teaching combines concise instructor briefings with transaction cases, financial-model reviews, group analysis, negotiation simulations and structured application planning. Cases reflect situations faced by corporate development teams, banks, public bodies and investor-owned businesses, including acquisitions financed through cash, debt and shares. Participants leave with a reusable M&A analysis pack containing valuation, due diligence, financing, transaction-model and post-close review templates.

The course is suited to finance professionals who contribute to transaction evaluation, funding, reporting or integration and need a disciplined view of how deal economics are assessed and communicated.

What you will be able to do

  • Assess strategic rationale, value-creation hypotheses and transaction risks using a structured deal-screening framework
  • Analyse quality of earnings, working capital and net debt adjustments from target financial information
  • Value acquisition targets using discounted cash flow, trading comparable and precedent transaction methods
  • Construct sources-and-uses schedules and integrated transaction models for acquisition decisions
  • Calculate accretion-dilution, debt capacity, covenant headroom and financing effects
  • Compare purchase-price mechanisms, consideration structures and risk allocation provisions
  • Prepare investment-committee materials presenting valuation, risks, alternatives and approval requirements
  • Design post-close value-capture tracking and post-acquisition review plans

Benefits of attending

For you

  • Produce defensible valuation ranges using three established M&A valuation methods
  • Identify quality-of-earnings, working-capital and net-debt issues before price decisions
  • Contribute credible analysis to investment-committee and board approval papers
  • Assess how financing choices affect earnings, leverage, cash flow and covenant headroom
  • Monitor whether post-close synergies and investment-case assumptions are being delivered

For your organisation

  • Improve challenge of target forecasts, valuation assumptions and claimed synergies
  • Reduce exposure to overlooked debt-like items, working-capital shortfalls and diligence risks
  • Create more consistent transaction models, approval papers and decision records
  • Strengthen comparisons between cash, debt, equity and seller-financing alternatives
  • Establish clearer post-close accountability for value capture and investment-case performance

Course modules

10 modules over 5 days

Participants can define a transaction rationale, screen potential opportunities and map the M&A process.

  • Strategic rationale tested through market position, capabilities, and value-creation hypotheses
  • Buy-side, sell-side, merger, carve-out, and minority investment transaction distinctions
  • Transaction lifecycle from target screening through signing, closing, and integration
  • Corporate development mandate, investment thesis, and acquisition criteria definition
  • Stakeholder map covering boards, lenders, advisers, regulators, and management
  • Indicative timetable, workstreams, decision gates, and accountable deal owners

Participants can analyse target financial information and identify material adjustments to deal economics.

  • Quality of earnings analysis separates recurring profit from non-recurring items
  • Normalised EBITDA adjustments tested against accounting records and management explanations
  • Working-capital analysis identifies seasonality, policy differences, and cash conversion
  • Net debt schedules reconcile borrowings, leases, cash, and debt-like items
  • IFRS 3 acquisition-date concepts affecting reported assets, liabilities, and goodwill
  • Management forecasts challenged using historical variance, drivers, and sensitivity ranges

Participants can develop and triangulate valuation ranges using established M&A valuation methods.

  • Comparable company analysis selects peers, normalises metrics, and derives trading multiples
  • Precedent transaction analysis adjusts for control premiums and market conditions
  • Discounted cash flow valuation builds unlevered free cash flows
  • Terminal value calculated using perpetuity-growth and exit-multiple methods
  • WACC estimated from capital structure, beta, risk-free rate, and credit spreads
  • Enterprise value bridged to equity value through net debt adjustments
  • Valuation range triangulated across DCF, trading comparables, and precedents

Participants can compare transaction structures and assess their financial, accounting and risk implications.

  • Share purchase, asset purchase, merger, and scheme structures compared
  • Consideration mix assessed across cash, shares, earn-outs, and vendor notes
  • Purchase price mechanisms contrast locked-box pricing with completion accounts
  • Earn-out metrics designed around revenue, EBITDA, milestones, and accounting policies
  • Tax attributes, stamp duties, withholding taxes, and financing deductibility assessed
  • Purchase price allocation distinguishes identifiable intangibles, deferred tax, and goodwill

Participants can build transaction-model logic and assess the earnings and cash consequences of an acquisition.

  • Sources and uses schedule reconciles purchase consideration, fees, and financing
  • Integrated three-statement model links operating assumptions, debt, and cash flow
  • Accretion-dilution analysis calculates EPS effects from financing and synergies
  • Synergy model separates revenue assumptions, cost savings, timing, and implementation costs
  • Debt schedule models amortisation, mandatory repayments, interest, and covenant headroom
  • Sensitivities test valuation, synergies, financing costs, and downside cases
  • Model review applies balance checks, circularity controls, and assumption audit trails

Participants can evaluate acquisition funding alternatives, debt capacity and lender constraints.

  • Acquisition financing assessed across cash, term loans, bonds, and equity
  • Senior, mezzanine, unitranche, and seller financing ranked by risk and cost
  • Credit metrics calculate leverage, interest coverage, fixed-charge coverage, and liquidity
  • Covenant package evaluates maintenance tests, incurrence tests, baskets, and restrictions
  • Debt capacity estimated from cash flows, credit metrics, and lender appetite
  • Financing term sheets compare pricing, tenor, security, amortisation, and flex provisions

Participants can prioritise diligence findings and connect financial risks to transaction protections.

  • Due diligence workplan scopes financial, tax, commercial, legal, and operational reviews
  • Materiality thresholds prioritise issues affecting price, structure, and integration
  • Data-room requests trace critical assumptions to source documents and contracts
  • Red-flag report distinguishes deal breakers, quantified exposures, and mitigations
  • Representations, warranties, indemnities, and disclosure schedules allocate identified risks
  • Warranty and indemnity insurance evaluated against retention, exclusions, and claims process
  • Closing conditions track regulatory approvals, consents, financing, and deliverables

Participants can prepare financially informed negotiating positions and decision papers for transaction approval.

  • Letter of intent defines exclusivity, valuation range, process, and confidentiality
  • Bid strategy sets walk-away price, concessions, and competitive response options
  • Negotiation preparation separates interests, positions, BATNA, and decision rights
  • Board papers present valuation, risks, funding, alternatives, and approval requests
  • Fairness opinion purpose, limitations, and adviser independence assessed
  • Antitrust, foreign investment, and sector approvals mapped against transaction timetable

Participants can translate the acquisition case into integration priorities and measurable value-capture controls.

  • Integration thesis converts deal rationale into measurable value-capture initiatives
  • Day-one readiness covers authority, payroll, customer continuity, and communications
  • Integration management office coordinates workstreams, dependencies, milestones, and escalation
  • Synergy tracking baselines benefits, assigns owners, and separates one-off costs
  • Purchase accounting impacts monitored through provisional values, amortisation, and impairment
  • Post-close performance dashboard compares realised synergies with approved investment case

Participants can evaluate realised transaction outcomes and prepare a focused plan for future deal responsibilities.

  • Post-acquisition review tests investment-case assumptions against realised financial outcomes
  • Value bridge explains variance between underwriting case, actual performance, and forecast
  • Integration risks reassessed using probability, impact, owner, and response actions
  • Lessons-learned register captures diligence gaps, decision quality, and process improvements
  • Personal deal-readiness plan identifies priority analyses, stakeholders, and development actions
  • Ethical wall procedures protect confidential information during active transactions

Exercises and examples are adapted to each cohort's sectors and roles.

What you take back to work

  1. M&A deal-screening framework
  2. Valuation triangulation model
  3. Financial due-diligence checklist
  4. Sources-and-uses and accretion-dilution template
  5. Acquisition financing comparison matrix
  6. Post-acquisition value-capture dashboard

Who should attend

  • Corporate Development Managers — assess targets and prepare acquisition recommendations
  • Finance Managers — evaluate deal economics, funding and reporting implications
  • FP&A Managers — challenge forecasts and quantify synergies within transaction cases
  • Investment Analysts — build valuation and transaction models for investment decisions
  • Treasury Managers — assess acquisition funding, debt capacity and covenant effects
  • Internal Audit Managers — review transaction controls, diligence findings and post-close risks

Skills and tools covered

M&A valuationTransaction modellingFinancial due diligenceAcquisition financingDeal structuringIntegration value tracking

Tools and standards

Discounted Cash Flow, Weighted Average Cost of Capital, IFRS 3 Business Combinations, BATNA

How the course runs

Training methodology

The course uses short instructor briefings to introduce transaction methods, followed by financial cases, model interpretation, group analysis and facilitated discussion. Participants assess target information, challenge forecast assumptions, compare valuation approaches and review financing choices. Negotiation and approval scenarios develop judgement around bid limits, risk allocation and board communication. Trainers use transaction documents, financial schedules and realistic deal timelines throughout. The final sessions convert learning into individual application plans for current or anticipated M&A responsibilities.

Requirements and prerequisites

Participants should understand core financial statements, budgeting, cash flow and basic corporate finance concepts such as enterprise value, debt and equity. Experience reviewing management accounts, preparing forecasts, supporting investment cases or working with financial models is useful. Participants should be comfortable interpreting Excel-based calculations, although advanced modelling skills are not assumed. Prior M&A transaction experience, investment banking experience, legal training or specialist tax knowledge is not required. The course explains transaction terminology and develops each financial analysis method from its practical purpose.

A typical training day

08:30 – 10:30First session
10:30 – 10:45Refreshment break
10:45 – 12:30Second session
12:30 – 13:30Lunch and networking
13:30 – 15:00Third session
15:00 – 15:15Refreshment break
15:15 – 16:30Workshop and daily review

Live online deliveries follow the same structure in East Africa Time, with shorter screen blocks and longer breaks.

What the fee includes

  • Instruction by a practitioner facilitator
  • Full course workbook and materials
  • Exercise files, templates and case studies
  • Refreshments and lunch on classroom deliveries
  • Certificate of completion
  • Post-course application plan

Frequently asked questions

Participants should understand financial statements, budgeting, cash flow and basic corporate finance. Previous M&A experience is helpful but not required, and the course introduces transaction terminology before applying it.

Bring a laptop with spreadsheet software for reviewing financial schedules and model structures. Participants may also bring a non-confidential transaction, acquisition proposal or funding question for use during application planning.

The course is intended for corporate development, finance, FP&A, treasury, investment and internal audit professionals. It is particularly relevant for people who support deal evaluation, funding decisions, transaction approvals or post-close reporting.

Corporate finance courses focus more broadly on financing and investment decisions, while modelling courses focus on spreadsheet construction. This course applies valuation and modelling to the full M&A decision process, including diligence, structure, negotiation, approvals and integration.

Participants can use the templates to assess acquisition targets, challenge forecast assumptions, compare funding options and prepare decision papers. The post-close materials also support tracking synergies and reviewing whether the original investment case is being achieved.

The five days progress from deal strategy and financial diligence to valuation, structuring, financing, negotiation and integration. Each training day runs from 08:30 to 16:30 and provides about 6.5 contact hours, combining instruction with transaction analysis and application work.

Questions about this course?

Ask about dates, fees, group bookings or running it for your team. Our training team replies by email.

Ask on WhatsApp info@skillsetdevelopment.com

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