SMU Asia Private Equity Institute (APEI) was the proud host of the APEI Leveraged Buyout Case Competition 2015.  Conceptualised and run entirely by postgraduate students of the Asia Private Equity Club @ SMU (APECS), the competition was organised in partnership with the New York School of Finance (NYSF), Chartered Alternative Investment Association (CAIA), Singapore Venture Capital Association (SVCA) and Bloomberg L.P (Singapore)

A first of its kind in Asia, the inaugural private equity (PE) case competition drew an overwhelming response with 32 participating teams from 15 institutions in 11 countries around the world, when it opened earlier this year.

In the preliminary round held between 21 March and 2 April 2015, participating teams had to analyse a case prepared by NYSF.  They then submitted a detailed investment thesis and financial model to justify their investment decision from the viewpoint of a General Partner at a PE firm.  Five teams with the best investment proposals made it to the grand finals on 28 May, held at SMU in conjunction with the APEI PE Conference 2015.

The finalists had exactly three weeks to analyse the feasibility of conducting a Leveraged Buyout / Management Buyout on the SGX-listed company Super Group Ltd.  The teams then made a call as to whether to go ahead with a buyout, and if so, proposed the structure of the transaction, restructuring of the company (if any) and exit strategy for the investment, and presented their case before a panel of judges from the academia and industry in Singapore.

[Photo: Teams presenting their cases at the Grand Finals held at SMU on 28 May 2015.]

Two teams from SMU – Team Leveredge and Team Phoenix Capital – walked away with the Gold and Bronze medals respectively, while the Silver medal went to Team Mongolian Chop from London Business School.

Elijah Lim, leader of the winning Team Leveredge, said that the competition was a demanding but fulfilling experience for his team: “We encountered a steep learning curve, as we had little prior experience with leverage buyout strategies and financial modelling.  Furthermore, our team had to juggle work and school, as well as work on tight deadlines to meet the competition’s requirements.  However, we were all passionate about the subject matter and incredibly supportive of each other.”

“I am pleased that our insights and analysis at various stages of the competition impressed the judges, who included corporate finance professors and seasoned industry professionals.  We would like to extend our heartfelt thanks and appreciation to our professors for their guidance, and to the organisers of the event for this unique learning opportunity,” he added.

Dr Guy Weyns, Professor of Accounting and Finance (Practice) and Academic Director of SMU APEI, said, “This competition not only presented students with the unique opportunity to interact with top academic and industry talent from the region, but is also an exceptional platform to develop their technical skills, as well as sharpen their business acumen and decision making skills for forging a bright career in PE.  I am confident that all participants have gained an in-depth appreciation and insightful perspective of Asia’s PE industry.”

Aside from invaluable insights into the PE sector in Asia, the winning teams also walked away with trophies and cash prizes worth SGD 10,000 in total.

"It was a great learning experience for the Organising Committee. Expectations for the competition were high and put a lot of time into finetuning the format and ensuring that we were perfectly aligned with our programme partners. My team and I would like to convey our heartfelt thanks to all participating teams for making this event a great success," said Anand Shankar, postgraduate student and Chairperson of the competition Organising Committee.

[Photo: Silver Medallist – Team Mongolian Chop from London Business School.  (L-R) Takahiro Ebisawa and Min-Beom Kim.]

[Photo: Bronze Medallist – SMU’s Team Phoenix Capital.  (L-R) Mr Alan Thompson (Managing Director, Private Equity Fund Investments at Temasek International, Board Member of APEI), Anshuman Marodia (final year, School of Economics), Pranav Rao (3^rd year, Lee Kong Chian School of Business) and Akshay Maheshwari (final year, School of Economics).]

[Featured photo: Gold Medallist – SMU’s Team Leveredge.  (L-R) Tan Jhun Boon (3^rd year, Lee Kong Chian School of Business), Lim Daoliang Elijah (3^rd year, School of Accountancy), Lee Shu Ting Brenda (3^rd year, School of Economics) and Kwek Jin Yang Jayme (2^nd year, School of Economics).]