
Key information
Programme overview
A well-executed merger deal brings huge potential, but success is not guaranteed. To improve the odds, top M&A specialists use effective tactics to analyse and execute corporate restructuring. These proven skills and strategic approaches are the focus of Imperial's Mergers & Acquisitions programme.
This 11-week online programme leads you through both the financial and the strategic aspects of corporate restructuring. You will identify the functions, benefits, and challenges of various forms of mergers and acquisitions, and by the programme's close you will be equipped to participate in a successful M&A deal, from identifying the benefits for both buyer and seller, to establishing valuation, to leveraging bidding techniques. You will gain a deeper awareness of the players and processes in mergers and acquisitions, and will learn the frameworks to create value at every stage of the transaction cycle.
You will experience live online teaching sessions, video lectures, interactive activities and assignments whilst receiving personal support from a dedicated Learning Team.
You will finish the programme prepared to implement your learnings, and with a verified Digital Certificate from Imperial College Business School Executive Education.
Who should attend?
This international programme will build on your business knowledge to expand your skills in M&A techniques and transactions. Equipping you with a framework to analyse and participate in the execution of M&A deals, this programme is particularly relevant for individuals including:
- Senior Executives responsible for their firm's growth, portfolio, and investments, especially those seeking to capture value through mergers to create synergies of revenue, cost, and capital
- Consultants in investment banking and finance who are responsible for sourcing, executing, and managing deals, particularly those looking to create value for companies and build expertise in deal management.
- Mid-level Managers responsible for accounting, valuation, research, financial modelling and smaller-scale investment decisions
- Legal Professionals working as legal counsel to investment banking, finance, or law firms, especially those who ensure compliance for their clients, structure transactions, provide due diligence, and prevent antitrust liability in mergers and acquisitions
Learning objectives
- Identify the role of restructuring and M&A in the context of corporate finance
- Learn the various forms of corporate restructuring and M&A
- Understand the motives and strategies for M&A transactions
- Explore the M&A process from both sides, identifying the roles of those involved
- Prepare a strategy for what happens after the merger
- Place M&A in an international context
- Learn to structure an M&A transaction
- Value a company in the context of a transaction
- Optimise your approach to negotiation
What you will learn
Module 1: Corporate Finance and Strategy- Review of Relevant Concepts
Module 2: Mergers & Acquisitions- Background
Module 3: Motives, Strategies and Empirical Performance
Module 4: Forms of Corporate Restructuring
Module 5: M&A Process
Module 6: Takeover Tactics and Defenses
Module 7: Hyper Leverage as an M&A Defense
Module 8: After the Deal
Module 9: International M&A
Module 10: M&A Industry and Careers
Programme faculty

Marc Kitten
Visiting Professor
Marc Kitten is a founding partner at Candesic Strategy Consultants in London. He has 25 years of experience of transactions and financial markets. He advises corporations and financial investors in the areas of corporate strategy and corporate finance. He serves on the boards of several fast-growing companies. Prior to co-founding Candesic, he was a consultant at McKinsey & Co. In London and a Vice-President at Deutsche Bank in Frankfurt.
He is also a visiting professor in finance and strategy with 20 years of teaching experience at Imperial College London and other Business Schools in Europe, Asia and the US. He lectures both graduates and executives in most aspects of corporate finance and strategy. He is the author of the 2009 Vault Guide to Careers in Private Equity in Europe and has published several case studies.
Marc holds an MBA from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business, completed the Young Managers Programme at INSEAD and graduated from EDHEC Business School in Finance.
Become an Associate Alumni
Take your partnership with Imperial College Business School to the next level by becoming an Associate Alumni. Complete more than eight days of our programmes to claim 'Associate Alumni' status and join our active alumni community.
Imperial College Business School Global MBA
Successful completion of the Mergers & Acquisitions programme may be used for credit on the Imperial College Business School Global Online MBA, subject to acceptance onto the Global Online MBA programme and the payment of a small fee.