Course Detail (Course Description By Faculty)

In previous accounting/financial analysis courses, you obtained skills important to understanding how a firm tracks its day-to-day operations, how its activities translate into periodic financial statements and how such financial statements may be used to assess the value of a firm. Outside of 'normal' business activities, firms periodically undergo dramatic transformations via acquisitions, divestitures, restructurings, or bankruptcy. This course builds on knowledge acquired from other Booth courses and equips you with tools to build financial models to better understand the financial reporting, tax, and legal implications of structuring complex deals.

This course is essential for investment bankers, consultants, restructuring and turnaround specialists, private equity professionals, corporate development/internal M&A professionals and entrepreneurs who want to have a competitive advantage by understanding how financial reporting, tax and legal considerations affect deal structures.  

You will benefit greatly from this course if you wish to acquire tools to:

• understand the financial reporting, tax/legal implications of structuring complex deals.
• build merger and restructuring models to evaluate various deal structures;
• work for C-level roles (CEO, CFO, SVPs/GMs) and to serve on boards of major corporations as it provides an executive viewpoint on financial reporting and investor messaging implications for significant business investments.

Main topics to be covered include: (1) Financial Reporting and Tax implications of influence and control situations; (2) Financial reporting and Tax Implications of M&A deals; (3) Financial reporting and tax implications for restructuring via sales, spin-offs, and equity carve-outs; (4) Financial reporting implications and Tax implications for distressed firms operating in bankruptcy and emerging from bankruptcy (5) Building Merger Consequences and Restructuring models to evaluate the feasibility of deals.

View a video introduction to the course.

1st Class Assignment is mandatory. It requires you to build a statement of cash flows based on a set of transactions. It would be available here in January 2026. Note that you should submit the 1st class assignment even if you are not registered for the course by the 1st day of class but intend to do so. In that case you should email the teaching assistant to get the 1st class Assignment.  

 Strict Prerequisites: BUS 30000 - Financial Accounting and at least one of the following:

• BUS 30130 - Financial Statement Analysis, BUS 30116 - Accounting and Financial Analysis, BUS 30118 - Taxes & Business Strategy, BUS 30131 - Advanced Financial Analysis and Valuation for Global Firms. I may grant a waiver based on previous work/academic experience–please contact me at hsapra@chicagobooth.edu.
• 1st Class Assignment is mandatory. It would be available here in January 2026. It is meant to gauge your skills in financial reporting. If you find it painful, then it probably means you should not take the course.
  
• Recommendations: Proficiency in Excel & Financial Modelling
• Time Commitment: This class is demanding and potentially overwhelming and stressful if you have a weak foundation in financial accounting and/or are not prepared to dedicate significant amounts of time and energy to keep up with the material. Students should expect 6-8 hours of work per week outside of class for pre-class or post-class videos, reading, preparation, and cases.

 

Restrictions

Course handouts and course readings posted on Canvas.

The course grade will be determined by (1) an attendance policy, (2) In-class midterm and final exams (3) individual assignments and, (4) an M&A modeling group project. Both the midterm exam and the final exam will be closed-book and note. Students may bring a one page double-sided (A4) notes sheet. The exam, assignments and projects will revolve around recent deals. Cannot be taken pass/fail. Absolutely no auditors. Attendance at first class session is mandatory (even if you haven't registered for the course yet) and attendance on the 1st day of class would be taken. See Syllabus for details.

Grades

Restrictions