First Step to Final Offer 11/25/25

Author

Brooks Gammill
November 25, 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!

CAREER OPPORTUNITIES

Class of 2028 Finance Opportunities

  • LionTree 2027 US Advisory Summer Analyst - SF Link

  • Stone Point Capital PE Summer Analyst 2027 Link

  • Stifel 2027 KBW Investment Banking Summer Analyst - Multiple Roles and Locations Link

  • Baird Internship – Capital Markets Compliance Data & Analytics (Year-Round) Link

  • JPMorgan Chase & Co. 2026 JPMorganChase Fellowship Program - Multiple Roles and Locations Link

  • BDO Capital Advisors Summer Analyst, Investment Banking, BDO Capital Advisors - Summer 2027 (Richmond) Link

  • Perella Weinberg Partners 2027 US Advisory Summer Analyst Link

  • Houlihan Lokey 2027 Investment Banking Summer Financial Analyst (Class of 2028) - Multiple Roles and Locations Link

To see c/o 2028 opportunities, click here: Class of 2028 Application Tracker

Class of 2027 Finance and Consulting Opportunities

  • AllianceBernstein Private Wealth Summer Intern - New York Link

  • Brevan Howard 2026 Summer Internship Program – Credit Trading, New York Link

  • Houlihan Lokey 2026 Summer Financial Analyst | Equity Private Placements, New York Link

  • Lazard 2026 Financial Advisory Summer Analyst Program - Shareholder Advisory & Activism Defense Link

  • Lazard 2026 ETF Product Summer Internship Link

  • JPMorgan Chase & Co. 2026 – Markets - Systematic Trading – Internship – New York Link

  • 2027 Protiviti Consulting Intern - Multiple Roles and Locations Link

  • Leerink Partners Equity Research Intern (Summer 2026) Link

  • BDO Capital Advisors Analyst, Investment Banking, BDO Capital Advisors - June 2027 (Richmond) Link


    To see c/o 2027 opportunities, click here: Class of 2027 Application Tracker

Class of 2026 Finance and Consulting Opportunities

  • General Atlantic 2026 Analyst, Growth Acceleration Link

TECHNICAL QUESTION OF THE WEEK:

Assuming a 30% tax rate, walk me through 3 statements with a $120 decrease in depreciation. Your change in assets will be:

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MARKET NEWS

Citigroup Names New CFO and Restructures Personal Banking Amid Executive Shifts

Citigroup has announced that Gonzalo Luchetti, current head of U.S. personal banking, will become Chief Financial Officer in March 2026, succeeding Mark Mason, who will transition to an executive vice chair role. Mason, one of Wall Street’s highest-ranking Black executives, is expected to seek a CEO position outside the firm by the end of 2026. The reshuffle is part of a broader overhaul of the bank’s consumer operations: Citigroup will merge its retail bank and wealth unit under Andy Sieg, and create a new U.S. Consumer Cards division led by Pam Habner. CEO Jane Fraser, who recently assumed the role of board chair as well, emphasized the changes were timed ahead of Citigroup’s May 2026 investor day and continue her ongoing effort to streamline the bank’s structure and focus on top-performing segments. Shares of Citigroup have surged nearly 40% this year, outpacing JPMorgan Chase and Bank of America.

Source: The Wall Street Journal

AI Boom Reshapes Market Risk and M&A Dynamics in 2025

The surge in artificial intelligence investments is fundamentally altering the U.S. financial landscape, introducing new risks while simultaneously fueling a fresh wave of M&A activity. Executives and investors are racing to articulate AI strategies, often paying steep premiums to acquire capabilities or proprietary datasets they can't build in-house. Lazard and Citadel executives warn that AI-related optimism is driving valuations to historic highs, sometimes untethered from fundamentals. At the same time, Citadel’s models show that modern financial markets now amplify volatility shocks, with structural mismatches—like long-dated debt on short-lived tech assets—raising systemic red flags. Despite these vulnerabilities, McKinsey estimates that roughly $7 trillion will be needed to build out AI data centers by 2030, suggesting the capital surge has only just begun.

Source: Reuters

M&A DEAL OVERVIEW

Blackstone Prepares £1 Billion Sale of Birmingham’s NEC Events Centre

Blackstone is preparing to sell Birmingham’s NEC, one of the UK’s largest events venues, in a deal expected to fetch around £1 billion. The U.S. private equity firm plans to begin the sale process in March 2026, following a refinancing anticipated in February. NEC, acquired by Blackstone for £800 million in 2018, has since rebounded from pandemic-era losses, with revenues rising 6.4% to £187.8 million and EBITDA-style profit growing 21% to £54.7 million in the year ending March. The NEC hosts over 750 events annually, drawing about 7 million visitors, and includes assets like the Utilita Arena and Vox Conference Centre. The sale aligns with Blackstone’s broader exit from UK leisure assets, including an upcoming divestment of Haven Holidays

Source: Financial Times

LAST WEEK TECHNICAL QUESTION OF THE WEEK ANSWER:

Correct Answer: A, Cash Flow Statement — If I were stranded on a desert island, only had 1 statement and I wanted to review the overall health of a company – which statement would I use and why?

Explanation: The Cash Flow Statement is the single best statement to use because it shows the true cash the company is generating, which is the clearest indicator of its underlying financial health. Unlike the income statement, which can be influenced by non-cash expenses, or the balance sheet, which provides only a snapshot at a point in time, the cash flow statement reveals whether the company’s core operations actually produce cash, whether it can meet its obligations, and how it invests and finances its business. In other words, cash is the ultimate lifeblood of a company, so the cash flow statement gives the most reliable, real-world picture of its viability.