Oxford Saïd Team Wins Wharton Private Equity Buyout Competition

The annual Wharton MBA Buyout Case Competition brings together teams from world’s leading business schools to evaluate and make recommendations for a proposed Private Equity buyout transaction. This year, a team of five MBAs from Saïd Business School, University of Oxford won the 16th edition of the competition.

The $3000 prize went to the team comprising Johan Krynauw, Alex Bertoli, Alastair Cottrill, Joshua Sacks and Eyad Albayouk, who overcame 25 other particpating school teams from around the world.

The teams were given just 10 days to complete a detailed leveraged buyout financial model of a publicly listed company.  The firm chosen this year was GAP, one of the largest retailers in the world which generates revenues of over $16 billion.

The task before the Oxford Saïd team included framing of plans for the business post-acquisition, risks involved, how to finance the acquisition and key drivers available to improve the business.

After examining the affairs of the company closely, the team reached the conclusion that since the turn of the century, GAP had s come under increasing pressure with poor management of the brand and products not meeting customer’s needs.

“After we spent some time digging into GAP we saw an opportunity to propose a turnaround of the GAP brand. Our investment thesis was to sell one of the non-core brands in the portfolio, allowing an early return of capital to investors and then focus on implementing a brand revitalisation plan which included setting aside funds to spend on new marketing initiatives and investing in store refurbishments,” team member Johan Krynauw said.

The four teams in the final round were Oxford Saïd, Tuck, Yale and Chicago Booth. A panel of judges selected Oxford Saïd as the overall winners.

The team was drawn from the Oxford Saïd Finance Lab, founded and run by Andreas T. Angelopoulos, Executive Director, Oxford Private Equity Institute, an extracurricular programme for students looking for a career in investment banking and private equity.

The Finance Lab connects theory with practice through a series of practical modelling workshops, real-life case studies working with banks and funds, and taking part in challenges sponsored by Bridgepoint, Centerview, and Hermes.

Three years ago, Oxford Saïd had introduced this programme to offer investment banking training to graduates and undergraduates of the University, supporting students’ interviews and helping them to develop the required skills for a career in investment banking, private equity and asset management.

“It was fantastic to win an international competition, that has historically been dominated by the top American business schools, as it allowed us to showcase Oxford Saïd and the investment that has been made in finance related courses as well as the Oxford Saïd Finance Lab,” team member Alex Bertoli said.

In another competition, the CFA UK Research Challenge, a team of MFE students from Oxford Saïd conducted extensive research on the company Reckitt Benckiser (RB). The team came second in the challenge, designed to give students hands-on mentoring and intensive training in financial analysis, in which they performed detailed analysis on RB’s strategic position, financial standing, valuation, corporate governance and investment risks.