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- First Step to Final Offer 10/28/25
First Step to Final Offer 10/28/25
Brooks Gammill
October 28, 2025
Your weekly round-up of an M&A deal walkthrough, insightful market news summaries, technical quiz questions, and various internships, events, and diversity programs. A key resource to best prepare yourself for finance recruiting. If someone sent you the newsletter subscribe below!
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TECHNICAL QUESTION OF THE WEEK:
Could you ever end up with negative shareholders’ equity? |
MARKET NEWS
US Companies Announce $80B in Deals as Trump-Era Policies Ignite M&A Revival
In a 24-hour span, U.S. companies struck over $80 billion in merger deals, marking a sharp revival in M&A activity fueled by the Trump administration’s favorable stance on consolidation and easing antitrust scrutiny. Key announcements included the $63 billion merger between American Water Works and Essential Utilities, and Huntington Bancshares’ $7.4 billion acquisition of Cadence Bank, creating a $276 billion regional banking entity. Novartis also agreed to acquire Avidity Bioscience for $11 billion. Dealmakers cite falling interest rates, improved tariff clarity, and strong capital access as drivers, with 2025 now on track for a record year in megadeals, featuring over 50 transactions exceeding $10 billion.
Source: Financial Times
JPMorgan Rolls Out AI Chatbot to Help Staff Draft Performance Reviews
JPMorgan Chase has introduced an internal AI tool based on its proprietary large language model to assist employees in drafting year-end performance reviews. Known as LLM Suite, the system allows users to generate review content from custom prompts, aiming to streamline what is typically a time-consuming corporate task. While the tool offers efficiency—similar tools reportedly cut writing time by 40%—employees remain fully responsible for the final submissions, which must not be used for salary decisions. The rollout is part of JPMorgan’s broader AI push, with the bank having onboarded 200,000 users within eight months and allocating $18 billion to technology investments in 2025.
Source: Financial Times
M&A DEAL OVERVIEW
Nelson Peltz and General Catalyst Launch $7B Takeover Bid for Janus Henderson
Nelson Peltz’s Trian Fund Management and General Catalyst have jointly offered $46 per share in cash to acquire Janus Henderson, valuing the U.S. asset manager at $7 billion. The proposed deal represents a 56% premium to the company’s April 2025 trading levels and aims to "de-risk" a business seen as highly vulnerable to market and geopolitical volatility. Trian and related parties already own about one-fifth of Janus Henderson’s shares, and the bidders argue the company would be better positioned for long-term growth as a private firm, free from the structural constraints of public markets. Janus Henderson, which manages $457 billion in assets, has recently seen inflows into its active ETFs and improvements in performance following years of struggle post-merger. The board is forming a special committee to evaluate the bid, though no deal is guaranteed.
Source: Financial Times
LAST WEEK TECHNICAL QUESTION OF THE WEEK ANSWER:
Correct Answer: D, Can't be Determined — If a company raises debt to buy back shares, what happens to the EPS?
Explanation: It can’t be determined without more information, because the effect on EPS depends on how the interest expense from the new debt compares to the reduction in shares outstanding—if interest costs are low relative to the earnings saved per share, EPS may rise; if they’re high, EPS may fall.